


Unification

by agnikai58



Series: Borders and Knots [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Politics, BDSM, Bondage, F/F, Lesbians, Lesdom, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2019-11-04 08:49:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 35,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17895326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agnikai58/pseuds/agnikai58
Summary: The plan was to stay in Angela's vacation home for one month, but a political situation forces Angela and Fareeha to cut their time together short. After their return to Geneva they find themselves facing a new challenge. Their relationship is one born in isolation and now they have to try and merge said relationship, kinks included, with the lives they had led before meeting each other.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third entry in a series of mine so it's strongly recommended you go read Demarcations and Realignment before going any further. Kudos to TheCableGuy for beta reading.

Fareeha's eyes slowly drifted open and the white ceiling above her slowly came into focus. She turned her head to her left towards a nightstand with an alarm clock on top of it. The red digits were displaying the numbers ten and eleven. Fareeha blinked once, then her lips slowly curled up into a smile and she turned her head the other way.

  
  


Locks of pale golden hair were lying on the pillow next to her. Their owner was a woman with faintly tanned white skin mostly covered by a pair of light gray pajamas. Fareeha's smile grew a little wider as she looked at the other woman, unable to believe her luck.

  
  


The woman she was looking was not only breathtakingly beautiful, she was a doctor and a surgeon at that. Those two facts alone would have made her a fine catch, but even among the ranks of surgeons Angela Ziegler stood out. Her work with nano-biotics had been hailed as one of the great achievements in medicine and had earned her the Lasker Award and the Wolf Prize in Medicine, both considered predictors of the Nobel Prize. All before the age of thirty.

  
  


She could be anywhere in the world, doing anything she felt like but she was here in this bed. Fareeha pushed herself up on one elbow and leaned over, intending to wake the doctor with a kiss on the lips just like in one of those old princess movies.

  
  


Angela's eyes opened when their lips were mere centimeters and Fareeha came to a halt, suddenly unsure of herself. The doctor gave a gentle smile and she reached up with one hand to pull Fareeha's mouth down against hers.

  
  


It wasn't an accident that the two of them had slept in the same bed. Their activities before falling asleep had been decidedly arduous in nature. Bare skin firmly pressing against bare skin, fingers desperately grasping and caressing, and that was just in the hot tub before they had even made it to the bed. Once they had made it there, Fareeha had spread her legs and let Angela enter her with a strap-on. It was an act she hadn't allowed anyone, let alone one of her clients to do, but Angela wasn't just a client. At least not anymore. In the last two weeks the two of them had become something beyond that. Lovers. Girlfriends.

  
  


As Angela's lips brushed against hers Fareeha could feel her butterflies beginning to flutter in her stomach. Her career as a professional dominatrix practiced in giving pain and pleasure was what had brought her here, but this was different. She had done countless sessions in the past but every single one of them was less sensual than this. It was just a simple kiss but the fact that she was receiving as well as giving warmed Fareeha in a way none of those sessions had.

  
  


To Fareeha's surprise, and disappointment, Angela was the one who ended the kiss as she pulled her head away. “Well, that was a nice way to say good morning.” Angela said with an appreciative smile. “Did you know I was awake?”

  
  


Fareeha bit at her lip before slowly shaking her head as she slumped back down onto the mattress. “No, I didn't... I thought waking you with a kiss would be romantic, but I didn't think to talk to you about it beforehand. I'm sorry and it won't happen again.”

  
  


Angela blankly stared at Fareeha for several seconds before her shoulders began to shake as she started giggling. “You're adorable, you know that right? I get why you're so focused on consent, but it's okay to take a little risk from time to time. It's not like you were tying me up while I was asleep or anything.” The doctor sat up and picked one of Fareeha's hands up and interlacing their fingers together. “It was just a kiss. And now that we are talking about it, I don't mind you waking me up with a kiss in the slightest. If you were interested I wouldn't object if you woke me up by eating me out.”

  
  


As soon as Angela had finished speaking Fareeha's eyes flicked down towards Angela's hips and the dominatrix's cheeks reddened. Angela giggled again and Fareeha quickly looked away, suddenly unable to look the doctor in the eyes. “I'll think about it, Angela. How about some rosti for breakfast?”

  
  


“Mmmm... in a bit. I want to talk about last night first.” Angela's voice was gentle, but there was a serious note in it that hadn't been there a second ago.

  
  


“What about it? I thought we both had a really good time...” Fareeha ventured hesitantly.

  
  


“We did, but I've been thinking about it since I woke up. I enjoyed sleeping with you and I want to do it again... but the way you went about it bothers me. You don't need to trick me with a wager. If you want to have sex then all you have to do is ask me.”

  
  


Fareeha pushed herself up off the bed and she gently extracted her hand from Angela's grasp before wrapping her arms around her knees. “I know. It's just... I haven't been in a relationship in a long time so I don't really know what I'm doing. I wanted to have sex with you but I felt like I needed to be in control even though it wasn't a session. I guess I have some things to work on.”

  
  


Angela put her hand on Fareeha's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. “Everyone has stuff they need to work on. If you need help with anything then I'm here for you. After all you're my partner and I love you.”

  
  


There had still been spots of red on Fareeha's cheeks, but they rapidly vanished as Fareeha blanched. “Um.. umm.. ummmm... I like you too!” Fareeha stammered before scrambling off the bed and hurrying out into the hallway as if something was nipping at her heels. The carpet mostly muffled Fareeha's progress but Angela could still hear Fareeha's feet hammering their way down the stairs nonetheless.

  
  


Angela stared at the door for a moment in disbelief before getting out of bed herself. The speed with which Fareeha could turn bashful was unreal, even more so when you took her being a professional dominatrix into account. She yawned and stretched her arms upwards, the muscles in her back tightening for a few brief seconds before she let go. Even so, maybe she should have waited longer before dropping the 'L' word into a conversation Angela mused to herself. For now the best thing to do was to give Fareeha some space. She pulled the top half of her pajamas off while heading towards the bathroom. A shower would be a good way to do that Angela decided.

  
  


Twenty minutes later Fareeha had finished grating some potatoes into a wooden bowl. She grabbed a grinder full of salt and turned the handle on top several times. Then Fareeha set the grinder aside and grabbed one full of pepper so she could do the same thing.

  
  


“Diese frichen idioten! Wie kurzsichtig, engstirnig und korrupt muss man sein, um diese Entscheidung zu treffen? Meine arbeit nicht gefährlich! Es ist das genaue gegenteil von gefährlich! Nano-biotiks rettet leben! Ich haben krebskranke menschen geheilt, als es sonst keiner konnte!”

  
  


Fareeha jumped several centimeters into the air and the pepper shaker fell out of her hands as the doctor began shouting. Angela was still upstairs but her voice carried clearly throughout the house as she ranted. The German language, at the best of times, had always sounded guttural to Fareeha even when spoken in a conversational tone. But now that Angela was clearly _livid,_ it was as if a malevolent presence bent on scaring Fareeha was screaming at the top of its lungs.

  
  


Thankfully the screaming didn't last any longer than that, but Angela's footsteps were like hammers pounding on the ceiling and stairs while stomping her way downstairs.

  
  


As Angela entered the kitchen Fareeha picked the grinder up off the floor and set it back on the counter. She had changed out of her pajamas and was wearing a pair of jeans and a green tee-shirt.

  
  


“Are you all right, Angela?” Fareeha hesitantly asked, hoping that Angela's bout of screaming in German had passed.

  
  


Angela just shook her head and held her phone out to Fareeha. Fareeha took it and began to read the article displayed on it.

  
  


_'In what comes as a massive shock health regulators at the Food and Drug Administration declined to approve nano-biotics for use in the United States. The FDA released a statement last night in which they state their concerns about the long-term health risks of nano-biotics were not adequately addressed._

  
  


_The Ziegler Foundation has made no public comments other than promising to look into the matter. The United States is the only country to not approve nano-biotics for use thus far. Nano-biotics have already been approved for use in the European Union, Russia, India, and multiple countries in the Middle East._

  
  


_Currently the Foundation has applications pending to countries in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, as well as the U.S's neighbors Mexico and Canada. There has been no official statements on those applications yet but the general consensus until now was that these applications were a formality._

  
  


_The question on everyone's mind now is how Angela Ziegler and her foundation will respond to this setback._

  
  


_Any new information will be added to this article as they become available.'_

  
  


Fareeha's gaze slowly rose from the phone to see a decidedly glum looking Angela standing there. The implications ran through her head in an instant and she already knew the answer before asking the question. “You have to leave to go take care of this, don't you?”

  
  


Angela's shoulders rose and fell as she took several deep breaths to try and calm herself. She still looked angry and her voice was strained even so. “I'm afraid so. I don't want to leave but my company will be expecting me to be involved in fixing this.” She pulled a phone out of her pocket that Fareeha hadn't seen her using before and swiped her thumb across it. Immediately the device began to noisily vibrate and Angela sighed. “They've already left four voicemails.”

  
  


Fareeha stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Angela's shoulder. “If you have to leave you have to leave. I know you'd like to stay here with me, but I also know that this is important. I wouldn't be much of a girlfriend if I got upset about this.” She planted a kiss on Angela's cheek and stepped away. “Go start packing your things while I finish making breakfast.” Fareeha said in a chipper tone.

  
  


“I... all right.” Angela stashed the work phone back into her pocket and she moved towards the kitchen door. She paused by the archway for a moment and looked back at Fareeha for a few seconds before heading towards the stairs.

  
  


As soon as the doctor was gone Fareeha reached up to her cheek and wiped away the tears that she had been holding back. When Angela had asked Fareeha to come out here, there had been a time limit on the length of their time together. One month. She had known going in that both of them would pack their things up and leave. That hadn't been an issue for her when she had signed the contract but something unexpected had happened. Fareeha had fallen for her client and her client had fallen for her. Now they were two weeks in and she didn't want to go. She took a deep shuddering breath and grabbed the pepper grinder.

  
  


Angela looked around her bedroom for a moment before heading towards her closet. Fareeha had told her to start packing but truth be told there wasn't much to pack really. Just a few tote boxes that she had used to carry her clothes. Everything else would stay here. They would have to clean out the fridge however so the food wouldn't go bad. Her work phone buzzed again as yet another call came in. Angela shook her head and let it continue to buzz as she opened her closet door. She grabbed some shirts and began pulling the hangers out of them. Work could wait a few minutes longer.

  
  


When Angela came back downstairs Fareeha wasn't in the kitchen. Her handiwork remained in the form of two plates covered in rosti next to a pair of cups and silverware. As Angela sat down at the table Fareeha walked back in. “So I've got all my clothes packed up. I just need to go get my gear downstairs before I can start taking things to my car.” She gave Angela a smile that was a little too wide and began digging into her rosti with a fork. “What will you do about this?” Fareeha asked in-between bites.

  
  


“I'm not sure.” Angela admitted as she dragged her fork through her rosti instead of eating it. “It really depends on why the Americans rejected my application. I have to read the statement their FDA released and then I have to figure out what the actual reason is. Somehow I doubt it's as simple as what they claimed.”

  
  


Fareeha waited several seconds for Angela to elaborate but the doctor remained quiet, instead opting to unenthusiastically scoop rosti into her mouth. She took a bite of her own before setting her fork down and leaning back in her chair. “I know we need to leave, but would you want to do a session before we go? I'd hate to end our time here on a sour note.”

  
  


Angela shook her head and took a drink of water. “That's a good idea but I'm really not in the mood for that right now. Do you want me to help you with your toys?”

  
  


“I'd appreciate that.” Fareeha said.

  
  


The rest of their breakfast passed in silence, as did the packing of Fareeha's bondage equipment. Once they finished carrying boxes up to the garage Angela pulled her phone out and tapped away at it for a moment. She handed it over to Fareeha. “Okay, so I just need you to put in your bank account number so I can transfer the funds.”

  
  


Fareeha frowned at Angela for a second before it dawned on her what Angela was doing and her mouth made an 'o' shape. “Oh right, hang on.” She pulled her own phone out before navigating to her bank app. Once the number was on the screen she started to punch it into Angela's phone. “Okay, let's empty the fridge then get these boxes loaded.”

  
  


After all of their boxes had been carried into the garage and loaded into their respective owners cars Angela buried her face against the side of Fareeha's neck as she tightly embraced her. “I'll call you when I've got a handle on this. We'll go out to eat then you can come back to my place and we'll do a session.”

  
  


Fareeha gave a laugh that sounded a little like a snivel as she fiercely returned the embrace. “I'm looking forward to it.”

  
  


Angela lingered in the embrace for a moment longer before forcing herself to let go and head for her. Once she had sat down behind the wheel she pressed the switch to start her car. Nothing happened. Angela hit it a second time and nothing happened a second time. “Oh, come on.” She muttered while mashing the button over and over. The car refused to start each time and her forehead bumped against the steering wheel before she peered more closely at the dash. One of the icons had lit up, the battery indicator was red. She got out of the car with an exasperated sigh.

  
  


“What's wrong?” Fareeha asked, one hand on her car's door, in the middle of getting into her own vehicle.

  
  


“My car won't start. I think the battery might have died.” Angela muttered with a baleful glare at the luxury sports car. She continued to glare for a few more seconds before her gaze returned to Fareeha. “If you help me jump start the car we can park it outside and I'll have a mechanic tow it to a repair shop.”

  
  


“Sure.” Fareeha said right away as she began moving towards her trunk. “I think I have room for another box or two in the trunk if you want me to give you a ride.”

  
  


“Oh, yes please.” Angela said, her shoulders sagging in relief. “That would be really amazing.”

  
  


Fareeha pulled a pair of jumper cables from her trunk and ran them between her car and Angela's. She connected the clamps to the terminals on her car's battery while Angela did the same. A minute later and the doctor had gotten her car out into the driveway before shutting it down.

  
  


Once they had loaded Angela's clothes into Fareeha's vehicle there was nothing left to do but program their destination into the dashboard. As the car began to move, Angela's house quickly disappeared from view. Soon the highway appeared and the car began to pass through green fields covered in patches of snow that had yet to melt.

  
  


Fareeha leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She had woken up barely over an hour ago and yet somehow she felt exhausted already. Angela was still with her, but only until they got back to Geneva.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Fareeha's car pulled onto the motorway, Angela pulled out her work phone. Her brow furrowed and she bit her lip as her thumbs began tapping on its screen. After a couple of minutes of typing Fareeha reached out with her right hand and waved it up and down in front of the doctor. To her amusement Angela didn't stir or even notice what Fareeha was doing. She simply continued to stare intently at her phone as she typed.

  
  


Fareeha dropped her head and leaned her chair back as she closed her eyes. Sleep wouldn't be coming anytime soon, but there wasn't really anything else to do. If it had just been her in the car then she could have turned on some music but she didn't want to distract Angela from what she was doing. They were hundreds of kilometers from Geneva so the only thing to do was to clear her head and wait for the hours to slowly roll by.

  
  


A hand jostled her shoulder and Fareeha jerked awake, her seat belt keeping from sitting all the way. She paused and looked around at her surroundings. There was a beeping coming from the console and the car had come to a halt. “I think we're here.” Angela said as she pointed out the window at the small brick house they were parked next to. “Is this where you live, Fareeha? I thought you would have lived closer to Geneva since you work there.”

  
  


“Geneva's a really expensive city and it's cheaper to rent a place out here.” Fareeha said with a shrug. “My commute's not so bad if I eat in the car. I only have to go to work when someone schedules me so it's not like I'm making the commute every day.”

  
  


“That makes sense. I never liked a long commute myself so I got a place near the hospital when I was living in Zurich.” Angela said as she tapped on the console to make the beeping stop. “Anyways, let's get your stuff inside.”

  
  


The two of them undid their seat belts and got out of the car before each of them grabbed a box. Fareeha balanced her box against her hip as she dug her keys out of her pocket. Once she found the right key she pushed into into the deadbolt and twisted to unlock the door. She pushed it open and headed inside, Angela just behind her. “Just put them here.” Fareeha set her box down on the floor and took a moment to glance at her house.

  
  


There was a small patch of tile just beyond the front door and past that was a thin dark gray carpet. A tan sofa and pair of armchairs sat opposite a flat screen television. There were a couple of paintings hanging on the wall as well as pictures of an older woman and man. Before Angela could say anything a mewing sound came from deeper inside the house. A cat with ample white fluff on its chest and black markings around a pair of bright blue eyes ran into the room and straight up to Fareeha. It continued to meow as it rubbed against her ankles. A bright smile crossed Fareeha's face and she reached down to pick the cat up. It meowed again and pressed its head against her arm as it went limp in her embrace. “Oh, you missed me didn't you?”

  
  


“Fareeha?”

  
  


Angela and Fareeha both looked up at the sound of another woman's voice. The woman from the portrait was standing in the same doorway that the cat had come from. She had stark white hair that had been combed to both sides on top of her head and braided into a ponytail in the rear. Her skin and eyes were the same color as Fareeha's but there was a tattoo of black ink beneath her left eye shaped almost like a curving sword.

  
  


“I thought you were going to be gone for another two weeks...”

  
  


Her voice trailed off as she looked at Angela. “Angela Ziegler?” Her gaze swung back and forth between the two of them before her eyes widened suddenly. “Oh! _Oh._ ”

  
  


As word of Angela's invention had begun to spread her life had changed. Before that she had been highly regarded as a surgeon but that only brought one a small amount of recognition in certain medical circles. Once nano-biotics were announced she had become an international celebrity. Everyone was talking about her and everyone wanted to talk to her. News sites, news channels, talk shows, podcasts, morning TV shows, social media sites. In only a few days she had received hundreds of interview requests from all over the globe. At first it was exciting but then it became overwhelming.

  
  


She had had to close her public email adddresses to escape the deluge of emails she was receiving. Photographers descended on Zurich. Many of them had camped out in front of the hospital where her trials had been done. Others would follow her around the city, hoping for a choice photograph. A few even went so far as to lurk outside her home. Eventually she had packed up and slipped away into the night to Geneva.

  
  


The attention soon began to fade as the media moved onto the latest and greatest big story. That didn't stop the occasional stray photographer from trailing her at times however. It was at that point she was browsing a certain kind of website and stumbled upon a certain kind of fetish video. Angela had watched it all the way through, enraptured by what she was seeing. As soon as the video had ended she had restarted it immediately to watch it again. This time, however, she had unzipped her pants and put her hand down them as her imagination took over. She was seeing herself in the woman's place, that all those things were being done to her, that she was the one making those noises. It was immediately apparent that this was something she had to try. There was just one small problem. People would recognize her and word would get out.

  
  


If she was going to do this then she needed to find a place where her privacy would be maintained. It took hours of diligent searching but eventually her efforts led her to Fareeha's employer. She had scheduled a session with Fareeha and it had been everything she had hoped for except in one very important way. It hadn't been enough and she wanted more. That desire had led her and Fareeha to her vacation home where the last two weeks had taken place. But circumstances had changed and now she was here in front of this old woman.

  
  


The picture on the wall was of the old woman, she had the same eyes as Fareeha, they had the same color of skin. There had been no introductions made but it was obvious who this person was. Fareeha's mother. That wasn't the horrifying thing however. The look in her eyes was. Realization _._ Angela had gone to considerable lengths to hide her kinks from the world and that effort had been undone in mere seconds. _She knew._

  
  


The box in Angela's hands slipped from slack fingers and fell onto the ground with a loud thud. _Someone knew_. Everything in the room began to spin as if thrown into a washing machine and Angela stumbled to the side as her legs slowly gave way beneath her. A pair of arms grabbed her by the shoulders and she found herself suddenly lying on her side. “Here's some water, mum.”

  
  


“You with us now, dear?” The older woman was crouched in front of Angela, her eyes intently watching Angela's face. Angela groaned and pushed herself up to a sitting position before taking the cup of water. She took a long drink before shaking her head to clear some of the grogginess away.

  
  


“What happened?”

  
  


“You fainted but I caught you before you hit the floor. Come on, let give you a hand.” The woman seemed to be in her fifties or maybe sixties but she didn't have any problem raising Angela up from the floor and walking her over to the couch.

  
  


Angela's butt plopped onto the sofa and she took another drink. “You're... you're Fareeha's mother?”

  
  


“I am. My name's Ana and you are Angela...” Ana's voice trailed off and she looked at Angela questioningly.

  
  


“Ziegler.” Angela finished Ana's sentence. It was a simple question but the other woman's aim was obvious, at least it was to her. “I'm fine, just a little shaken.”

  
  


Ana nodded sagely and she took a seat on the far end of the couch from Angela. “Let me guess. You realized I knew you're one of my daughter's clients and that scared you.”

  
  


Angela's fingers tightened on the glass as Ana spoke, not wanting to drop something else while she was here. “I don't know what you're talking about.” She replied, her stiff shoulders saying something else entirely.

  
  


Ana chuckled dryly at that. “My dear, I know that my daughter is a professional dominatrix. I also know that she was spending a month with one of her clients and that she came back two weeks early with you in tow. That can only mean you're the client she was staying with and that you're into bondage.”

  
  


“I... I... I...” Angela began to stammer, all the blood rushing to her face turning her cheeks red, but nothing more than that would come out. This was supposed to be a quick stop on their way into Geneva but now she was stuck meeting her girlfriend's mother in the most awful way she could imagine. This meeting hadn't planned any in way shape or form. Ana didn't even know that her daughter and Angela were girlfriends. What made it even worse was Ana was discussing the fact she knew Angela was into BDSM as casually as another person might talk about the weather. “You know your daughter is a dominatrix?”

  
  


“I do. We had a discussion about it when she took the job. I’ve never asked about the details of what she does and I honestly don't want to know, but I know a lot of her clients are bankers or politicians.” The white-haired woman gave Angela a sly grin. “That was really what sold me on her job. She makes the people who screw us bend over.”

  
  


A look of horror appeared on Fareeha's features. “Mum!” At the same time Angela's cheeks got even warmer. Fareeha hadn't made her bend over but it was something to think about when she wasn't in such an awkward situation.

  
  


Ana chuckled again. “All right, all right, I'll stop. So what brings you back two week early?”

  
  


“The Americans rejected my application to have nano-biotics approved in their country.” Angela said, her mouth twisting in disgust.

  
  


“Did they? I suppose that's not too surprising. Americans are a strange bunch though some of them aren't too bad.” Ana said, sounding more than a little fond.

  
  


“How is Jack doing?” Fareeha piped up from one of the armchairs as she petted the cat sitting on her lap. “His basketball tournament is done right?”

  
  


“It is. He's been moping around the last couple of weeks.” Ana said. “Jack keeps muttering about Indiana not fouling at the end of the game when he thinks I'm not listening. I still don't know what that means though.”

  
  


“I'd have to look up the score but If I had to guess I'd say he's talking about not fouling when they had the lead.” Fareeha explained as her hand moved to her cat's head and began scratching behind the ears.

  
  


Angela looked between the mother and daughter for a moment before setting her cup down. “I hate to interrupt but I need to get back to Geneva. It was nice to meet you... is it miss or missus Amari?”

  
  


“No need to be so formal, dear. You can call me Ana.”

  
  


“It was nice to meet you, Ana. If you don't mind, Fareeha, I'll go start unloading your boxes.” Angela stood up and quickly moved towards the front door.

  
  


Once she was out of the house Ana looked over at her daughter and smiled. “Angela Ziegler? Well done, my child.”

  
  


Fareeha blushed and her gaze lingered on the door. “It's not that obvious is it?”

  
  


“Perhaps not to another person, but I am your mother, dear. I'd say you've gotten quite lucky. She's smart, rich, beautiful. If you weren't my daughter and I was younger and attracted to women then I'd be sorely tempted to try and steal her away from you.”

  
  


“Mum!” Fareeha exclaimed. She didn't get the chance to say anything further as Angela walked back in with a box in her arms at that moment. Fareeha set her cat aside, much to the cat's displeasure, and stood up. “You don't have to do that, Angela.”

  
  


“It's not a problem, Fareeha. You still have to take me to Geneva so I'm not exactly being altruistic...”

  
  


“Well it's my stuff so I'm the one who should be unloading it.” Fareeha turned back towards her mother before heading out the door. “Do you want me to give you a ride too, mum?”

  
  


Ana shook her head. “No, I was planning to go see a friend after I made sure your cat had food and water. It was nice to meet you, Angela. You take good care of my daughter now.” She patted Fareeha on the shoulder before leaving the two of them alone to finish unloading.

  
  


Angela watched her go before turning towards Fareeha. “I know she's your mother and I don't want to offend you... can I trust her to keep quiet about what we do together?”

  
  


Fareeha let out a quiet laugh without any malice in it. “You don't have to worry about that. My mother knows how to keep secrets. You don't have to worry about her telling anyone about your kinks.”

  
  


Angela let out a deep breath as Fareeha finished speaking and she could feel some of the weight being lifted off her shoulders. Even so she couldn't shake the feeling of unease completely. Ana might be good at secrets but there was an unavoidable truth here.

  
  


Someone knew.


	3. Chapter 3

Angela's arm stretched out towards the other side of the bed as she rolled onto her side. “Fareeha?” She murmured sleepily while opening her eyes. There was no one in the bed but her. Angela sat up and looked around the room before remembering where she was. This _was_ her house, but it wasn't the vacation house in the east. It was her house in Geneva and Fareeha wasn't here. She gazed at the empty side of the bed for several seconds before reaching over to her nightstand and grabbing her phone. Angela opened up her email and began to re-read the texts she had exchanged with Cedric Favre, her vice president at the Ziegler Foundation.

  
  


_C: I know you're on vacation, Doctor Ziegler but there's been a setback with our United States application. Please contact me as soon as possible._

  
  


The next three emails said much the same thing, but with an increasing sense of urgency for her to respond. Cedric was a highly capable businessman but his nerves could start to fray when something unexpected happened.

  
  


_A: I just saw the news. What happened? The last thing I heard from the FDA was that they had every intention of approving nano-biotics._

  
  


_C: That was my understanding as well. I've seen a flurry of activity in the past week. Two members of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, they oversee the FDA, resigned from the committee and the head of the FDA resigned as well. Something is going on behind the scenes, but I don't have any idea what that might be._

  
  


_A: Have you heard anything from the Americans? I saw the FDA sent out a press release but I don't believe what they said about long term health risks. None of the other countries we've applied to had any reservations about that._

  
  


_C: As a matter of fact, I have. The US embassy contacted us today to arrange a meeting with you. Would you want us to schedule that or would you prefer to decline?_

  
  


_A: They want to meet with us right after our application is denied? I think you're right about something going on. Arrange the meeting but not today. I'm on my way back to Geneva at the moment. Let's talk scenarios. They denied our application but only because they want concessions from us. What might those be?_

  
  


_C: All of our nano-bots are currently manufactured in Germany then shipped to other countries. It's possible the US might want us to build a nano-bot factory there so they can be produced by American workers. A move like that would appeal to American isolationists and create a few hundred jobs in a city that needs them. The benefit to us would be cutting down on shipping costs for the North and South American regions._

  
  


_A: That's an interesting idea. What's another reason they might reject us?_

  
  


_C: Healthcare in the US is largely run by the private sector, notably insurance companies. It's possible that they lobbied Congress to have us denied. The countries that have approved us have seen the cost of surgeries drop drastically so those companies are probably worried about their profit margins._

  
  


Angela shook her head and made a sound of disgust as she read that particular text. She had already seen that text the previous day but it was still as vile to consider as it had been the first.

  
  


_A: I can't say I like that thought. Is there anything else they might want?_

  
  


_C: It's possible voting members of the FDA or the Senate committee could be swayed if they saw something was in it for them._

  
  


_A: That's bribery._

  
  


_C: Lobbying has been a part of politics in the US for a long time. A few donations or opening a health clinic in the right city could swing a vote or two in our direction._

  
  


_A: Let's move on for now. Let's say the Americans don't change their minds. What would the best response be?_

  
  


_C: Our first move in that situation should be damage control. The Americans choosing to deny our application could potentially scare undecided countries off and make countries who've already approved us reconsider their decision. I would recommend a media campaign and you should start giving interviews again to counter any negative perceptions people might be forming._

  
  


_A: That makes sense. What's the latest on the applications to Mexico and Canada?_

  
  


_C: Nothing official yet but I've been contacted by both countries to reassure me their decision isn't being influenced by the Americans._

  
  


_A: Well that's good at least. Keep in contact with countries who haven't approved us yet and make sure they aren't getting cold feet. In the meantime have PR get started on that media campaign you were talking about. Let me know when and where the meeting is scheduled._

  
  


_C: The embassy is asking for you to go to Washington._

  
  


The latest text had arrived earlier this morning when she had still been asleep according to the time stamp. Angela stared at her phone, her brain not processing the sentence for several very long seconds.

  
  


_A: Washington? As in Washington, DC? They want me to travel to the United States?_

  
  


_C: Yes. They insist upon it actually. I tried asking for a phone call or a video chat but they refused both options._

  
  


_A: All right, we'll do it their way. Talk to legal and see if they have anyone who has taken the bar exam in the US. If not then have them hire someone to represent me while I'm over there. I'll need you to book me a flight and hotel room. I'll want to leave tomorrow afternoon and meet with them a couple of days later so I'm not dealing with jet lag._

  
  


_C: Normally that wouldn't be difficult but there's another problem. They want to speak to you alone, no lawyers or anyone else._

  
  


Angela frowned at the message before slowly shaking her head. The situation kept getting stranger and stranger but the alternative was worse. Three hundred and fifty million people was three hundred and fifty million people she didn't want to ignore.

  
  


_A: Fine. I'll be by myself in the meeting but I still want a lawyer over there. If they want me to agree to something or sign documents then I need legal expertise. Forward me the flight and hotel information after they're booked._

  
  


She set her workphone aside and picked up the other phone on the nightstand. Angela scrolled through the conversations before selecting the one she wanted.

  
  


_A: Hey Fareeha, I was wondering if I could 'come' by tonight. Say seventeen hundred?_

  
  


_F: Sure. You can come. Make sure you're wearing a bikini._

  
  


Fareeha ended her text with a yellow smiley face that was sticking its tongue out.

  
  


_F: I just finished grocery shopping so I'll have something for you to eat._

  
  


Angela chuckled to herself and set her phone down. The trip to America was definitely going to be strange but at least the send off would be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time Angela arrived at Fareeha's house the sun was almost entirely below the horizon. Its last rays still lingered but the evening dusk was dark enough that none of the neighbors would be able to recognize her. The blinds on the brick house's front windows had been shut and a light near the front door had been turned on. She walked up to the front door and raised her hand to knock but the door was already slightly ajar. Angela pushed the door open and stepped inside, quickly closing it behind her.

  
  


Fareeha was sitting on the couch and her cat was sitting on her lap. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black tee shirt with stray cat hairs on it. “Hello, Angela. Are you ready for our session?”

  
  


Angela had to take a moment to rub her tongue against the insides of her cheeks and she swallowed to deal with a sudden dryness in her mouth. “Almost. I don't suppose you have a quick snack I could eat first do you? I'm a little hungry actually.”

  
  


“Sure. I made some stuff so we could have dinner afterwards but we can cheat a little.” Fareeha gave Angela a wink and she lifted the cat off her lap. The cat meowed and immediately tried to climb back onto Fareeha's lap but she stood up before it could. It's ears twitched and it turned its head towards Angela before hopping down off the couch and trotting towards the doctor. The cat started rubbing against her legs as it meowed again.

  
  


“Oh, hello!” Angela said brightly as she crouched down and held her hand out to the cat. It sniffed her fingers before rubbing its cheeks against them. “What's your name?”

  
  


“This is Jonesy. She's a chubby-butt.” Fareeha said in a cheery sing-song voice as she ruffled her fingers through the cat's silky fur.

  
  


“She's not chubby! She's just very fluffy! Aren't you Jonesy?” Angela emphatically stated as she scratched underneath the cat's chin. “What kind of cat is she?”

  
  


“She's a ragdoll. They're really friendly and they love people. Jonesy follows me around whenever I'm home and she always wants me to pick her up whenever I sit down.” As if on cue Jonesy stretched up on its hind legs and put her paws on Angela's leg. Angela gave a broad smile and she lifted the cat off the ground, cradling it in her arms. A loud purr began coming from the cat and Jonesy's head dipped towards the ground as her body went limp. “Awww, she likes you! Well my cat approves so I guess I don't have to go find another hot blonde super doctor and bring her home.”

  
  


Angela raised an eyebrow as she started scratching the cat behind its ears. “Oh? You think you'd find another hot blonde super doctor do you?”

  
  


“No, probably not. You're one of a kind.” Fareeha said with a slightly apprehensive grin that her joke might have fallen flat. “I don't feel like looking though since I'm happy with the one I have. Come on, I made gollash if you want some.”

  
  


“Goulash?”

  
  


Fareeha shook her head as she began walking deeper into her house. “Nope. Gollash. It sounds similar but it's not the same thing. Gollash is an Egyptian dish. It's a pastry made from unleavened bread that you put stuff. I like minced veal and cheese in mine but you can put whatever you want in it.”

  
  


After they had entered the kitchen Fareeha picked up one of the square pastries. It had multiple layers of flaky sheets of bread with meat and melted cheese sandwiched between them. She turned towards Angela and held the pastry up. Angela leaned forward and took a small bite off a corner. “Oh that's good. What kind of spices do you put in it?”

  
  


“Just salt and pepper but I use ghee instead of butter and rumi cheese as well.” Fareeha replied as she urged Angela to take another bite.

  
  


“What's rumi cheese?”

  
  


“It's a cheese from Egypt. There's a couple of versions but I like to get the kind that's made from a mix of cow and buffalo milk. Hard to get in Geneva but I found a Middle Eastern store that carries it occasionally.”

  
  


Angela took a second bite then another and another until only the small bit Fareeha was holding remained. She set Jonesy down on the floor then took a hold of Fareeha's wrist and pulled Fareeha's fingers up to her lips. Angela drew the gollash into her mouth then a moment later she did the same to a pair of fingers. Her tongue ran along the digits as she licked the grease off of them. “I'm ready if you are, mistress.” Angela murmured as she took the fingers out.

  
  


“All right then.” Fareeha said, a little surprised at how quickly the doctor had changed gears. “There's some stuff we can't do here because there's neighbors nearby and my walls aren't great at blocking sound. That means no impact play. I don't want someone to get freaked out and call the cops.”

  
  


“Okay. Do you have else something in mind then?” Angela asked, the idea of already being in cuffs when the police arrived not appealing to her.

  
  


“I do as a matter of fact.” Fareeha left her hand in Angela's grasp and she pointed with her free hand towards a hallway between the kitchen and living room. “My room's at the end of the hall.”

  
  


The carpet in the bedroom was thin and dark gray and there was a wall closet with sliding doors on one side of the room. The bed's headboard and footboard both consisted of curving steel rods that had been painted black. Between them was a queen sized mattress with ivory sheets and pillow covers. A pair of posters hung on the bedroom's white walls. One had a large shark, teeth featured prominently, pointed upwards towards a woman swimming in blue water. The other was mostly black save for an egg with green light pouring out through a crack as it began to hatch. “In space no one can hear you scream.” Angela read out loud. “Is this a poster for a horror movie?”

  
  


“It is but I'm not sure you would like it. Alien is generally considered one of the scariest movies ever made. Anyways we're going to play a little game here. Take off your clothes but leave your underwear on.”

  
  


Angela pulled her gray tee-shirt off before turning around so she was facing away from Fareeha. She bent forward at the waist as she undid the button on her pants and pushed them down to then off of her ankles. Beneath her shirt and pants was the tops and bottom of a blue bikini. Fareeha put a hand on her hip as she appraised Angela's remaining outfit. “Okay, sit down on the bed.” Angela seated herself onto the edge of the bed as Fareeha searched through the boxes she had brought back from Angela's vacation home. She rummaged in them for a few seconds before withdrawing a coil of red rope and a vibrator with a long cord protruding from its base. “Give me your leg.”

  
  


Fareeha wound the rope around Angela's ankle before tying a knot to hold one end in place. She began to loop it around the doctors calf when Jonesy leaped onto the bed. The cat bounded forward and batted at the end of the rope dangling from Fareeha's hands before seizing it in her mouth. “Hey!”

  
  


Jonesy paid Angela's yell no mind as she walked backwards, pulling the rope with her as she went. Fareeha grabbed the rope and tugged on it and Jonesy's tail began to swish back and forth as she redoubled her efforts. The doctor cleared her throat and Fareeha looked over at Angela with a too innocent expression. “Oh, did you want a turn? Here.”

  
  


Fareeha pulled on the rope, dragging Jonesy behind it, and handed it over to the doctor. Angela hesitantly took the rope and held it in her hand as Jonesy continued to pull on it. After a few seconds she began to pull back but let go when the cat to caterwaul. “Are you sure that's a cat? It seems more like a dog to me.”

  
  


“Ragdolls can be pretty dog-like.” Fareeha agreed. “But she can act like a cat when she wants to.” Fareeha went to one of the cardboard boxes, picked it up and dumped its contents all over the floor. She headed to one of the room's corners and set the box down. A moment later she had thrown a stuffed yellow banana toy into the box. Jonesy immediately dropped the rope and bounded off the bed and into the box as it fiercely pounced onto the toy. “Okay, she won't bother us for a while. Jonesy loves that thing.”

  
  


Fareeha picked up the rope and began winding it around Angela's leg like she had before. When she got to Angela's thigh she left a sizable stretch of slack in the rope and reversed direction. The coils were the same length as before but she was going in the other direction so that the ropes formed loose diamonds. Fareeha grabbed the vibrator and placed it against the inside of Angela's thigh. She pulled the fabric of the bikini bottom aside and slid the head of the vibrator inside before adjusting it so that it rested on the doctor's clit. Fareeha moved the fabric back to where it had been before taking the rope and pulling on it. The rope cinched down on the vibrator, trapping it in place as well as squeezing itself against Angela's leg as the slack was taken out. Fareeha ran her fingers along the rope from top to bottom, occasionally pulling at it to test her ropework. “Is it too tight anywhere, Angela?”

  
  


Angela glanced down at her leg before wiggling her foot. “It's a bit tight around my ankle but it's not bad.” A few seconds was all Fareeha needed to adjust the knots down there. “Better. So what are we doing? Just turn on the vibrator and let it go?”

  
  


“Not quite. We're going to play a little game here. Have you wondered why I asked you to wear a bikini?” Angela bit her lip before shaking her head a little. “Well here's why. Stand over there.” Fareeha pointed at a spot in the middle of the room.

  
  


Once Angela was in position Fareeha moved to stand behind her and she undid the knot holding the bikini bra's strings together. She pulled both strings up to Angela's lips. “Open up.” Angela obediently opened her mouth and Fareeha pushed the ends of the strings into them. “Close.” Angela closed her mouth, the fabric now trapped between her teeth.

  
  


“So here's the game. Your job is to keep those in your mouth. As long as you do that the vibrator stays on. But if you drop them I turn the vibrator off until you put them back in. You're allowed to use your hands to do that but you're not allowed to use your hands to help hold the strings in your mouth.” Fareeha moved to stand just behind Angela, almost close enough for their bodies to touch and she took hold of Angela's wrists, moving the doctors hands so they were pressed against her own stomach. “Are you ready?”

  
  


“Green.”

  
  


Angela almost jumped off the floor when the vibrator turned on even though she was expecting it. Fareeha had placed the device squarely against her clit but the rope had pressed its head more tightly inwards and her underwear was helping to hold it in place as well. Angela shivered as waves even stronger than they normally would have been started to circulate through her pelvic region. Her hips swayed forward but when they swayed backwards Fareeha pinched her elbows in against Angela's sides to trap her in place. The only thing left for Angela to do was let the vibrations run through her as she desperately tried to hold on. After a minute or two her jaw began to ache from the strain of fighting off the urge to moan and then Fareeha turned the vibrator up a notch. Angela shuddered almost immediately and her mouth opened. As the strings fell from her mouth so did a moan and the vibrator stopped. Angela groaned in frustration as the waves ceased and the pleasure that had been mounting drained out of her. Fareeha's hands let go of her wrists.

  
  


Now that the strings were out Angela took a few ragged breaths as she tried to regain her composure. After several seconds she grabbed the end of the strings and placed them back between her teeth. Angela bit down and once again Fareeha grabbed her wrists before pressing her thumb against the vibrators power button. Angela trembled as the waves came back. They were pleasure but this time it was pleasure tinged with doubt whether or not she'd be able to hang on long enough to reach the end. Her jaw began to ache as she squeezed her teeth together, desperate to hang on, but to no avail. The strings fell out a second time to her dismay. The third time she dropped them Angela didn't even bother going for the strings afterwards. Her head sagged forward as she gave in. “I can't do it. It's too hard.”

  
  


Fareeha leaned forward and rested her chin on Angela's shoulder. “Are you asking me for something? Because I'm pretty sure the proper way to ask me for something is on your knees.”

  
  


Angela took a step forward and turned around before sinking down to her knees without any hesitation. “I'd like to have an orgasm, mistress. I mean if that's all right with you.”

  
  


After the vibrator turned back Angela groaned and lowered herself onto her side. One of her hands reached down to her underwear and pushed on the head of the vibrator there. The pressure from her palm drove the head even harder against her clit and the waves grew even stronger. After being denied three times she wasn't willing to wait any longer than necessary and it didn't take long for her to find the finish she was looking for. A sharp spasm ran through her legs then a wide and satisfied smile appeared on her face after it had passed.

  
  


Fareeha quickly switched the vibrator off and knelt at Angela's side as she began undoing the ropes and removing the vibrator, wet head and all. She set them aside before lifting Angela off the ground and placing the doctor onto her bed. Fareeha headed to the kitchen for a moment before coming back with some chocolate bars before lying down next to Angela. She grabbed the blanket and pulled it over them. Angela turned onto her side and grabbed at the candy. “Gimme.”

  
  


Fareeha let go of the chocolate bars and Angela quickly tore them free of their wrappers before devouring them with so much gusto that chocolate stains were left on her lips. Fareeha reached over and wiped them off with her index finger. Angela grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled that finger into her mouth, not willing to let even the slightest bit of chocolate escape. Fareeha shook her head bemusedly but didn't protest. “So, how was this session, Angela?”

  
  


Angela squirmed closer towards Fareeha and put her head on the other woman's shoulder. “I'm not sure. I don't know if I like being edged or not. Getting denied like that is almost painful and it's so frustrating. It does seem to make the orgasm better when it does come though so I don't know. Also your cat going for the rope was distracting.”

  
  


Fareeha glanced over at the box where her pet was still playing with the toy from earlier. “I should have realized Jonesy would do that. I've never done a session here at home and it never occurred to me think she might get in the way. It was kinda funny though.”

  
  


“... yeah I suppose it was.” Angela admitted with a chuckle that quickly turned into a laugh which in turn grew to giggling. “Your dog is a ferocious little beast but I like her.”

  
  


“Do you want to spend the night?” Fareeha asked. “You'd have to share that side of the bed with Jonesy and she'd wake you up in the morning for f-o-o-d.”

  
  


Angela slowly shook her head. “I really want to but I can't. I have to fly to Washington tomorrow for a meeting with the Americans. I wanted to spend some time with you today before I go.”

  
  


Fareeha placed a soft kiss on Angela's cheek to cover up her disappointment. “I understand. Try to have some fun while you're over there. Go see the sights and what not. There's a lot of places to visit in D.C.”

  
  


“I'll do that and I'll take some pictures for you.” Angela said as she sat up and began to tie her bra back into place. “Anywhere in particular you'd like me to get?”

  
  


“Well I'd ask for the White House but it'd be weird seeing the place when it wasn't about to explode. How about the Lincoln Memorial or the Smithsonian?”

  
  


Angela hopped off the bed before picking up her pants and put them on before grabbing her shirt and donning it. “I'll do that.” She leaned down and kissed Fareeha on the forehead. “So what's for dinner?”

  
  


As soon as the word dinner left Angela's lips Jonesy was jumping out of the box and bounding over to the doctor. She meowed loudly and stood up on her hind legs to paw at Angela's leg. Fareeha chuckled. “Well you said the magic word so now you get to feed her. Come on, I'll show you where her food is.”


	5. Chapter 5

As Angela looked out of the window to her left she could see wispy strands of white being pushed along by a breeze emanating from the sea. Below them was a sprawling mess of a city mostly nestled between a pair of rivers. The overhead intercom clicked on and the captain's voice came through but Angela paid it no mind as she looked at the city below.

  


There were numerous cities in the world that labeled themselves as cities that never slept but that axiom was especially true in this case. Washington DC was less a city than it was a heart built of stone and steel. It's frenetic beating never ceased, not even for an instant. There were other cities that served similar purposes but only a scant few could claim they had anywhere the same impact as this one. The veins reaching out from Washington stretched all cross the globe to such an extent that even the Sentinelese, perhaps the most isolated people on Earth, were affected by them even if they would never know of it. It was a tangled mess and one she was heading almost to the very center of.

  


The structures on the ground below grew larger and larger before disappearing from view and all she could see was tarmac. The plane's wheels bumped against the ground and Angela was pushed back against her seat as the plane decelerated before taxiing to the terminal. When it came to a halt the lights went off and the passengers began unbuckling their belts and getting up. Angela stretched her arms above her head to loosen the muscles in her back. She had been sitting in first class, but several hours on a plane was still several hours on a plane.

  


Angela opened up the compartment above her chair and pulled out a medium sized suitcase. She was only planning to be in this country for a few days so she hadn't needed to bring anything else. Angela set the case on the ground and pulled out the retractable handle as she headed for the plane's exit. Shortly after Angela was standing on a moving walkway and she took the opportunity to pull her phone out. Messages from Cedric popped out as she did so. Angela had already read them but it was worth double checking them since she was in a foreign country.

  


_C: We've arranged for a lawyer to meet you at the airport. His name is John Schiff and he'll be holding a sign with your name on it. There'll be a rental car waiting for you and your hotel room has been reserved. Your meeting is in two days so that you should be past any jet lag you might have gotten from your trip._

  


Angela skimmed through the details of her hotel and rental before putting her phone away. Nothing more about about the FDA but the fact they had asked her to fly out to Washington was promising. The Americans wanted something. She just had to find out what that something was. As she moved past the metal detectors Angela began scanning the crowd, looking for the sign with her name on it.

  


A man wearing a black tuxedo over a white collared shirt moved out of the crowd towards her, a noticeable limp to his gait. The top of his cranium was reflecting the overhead lights but black hair still clung to the sides and rear of his head along with a thick mustache and beard covering his chin. He may have been an athlete once but the rigors of middle age had smoothed away the muscles he once possessed. “Doctor Ziegler? I'm John Schiff.”

  


John's handshake was firm but brief. “It's an honor to meet you.” He said while taking her suitcase and pointing down the terminal towards a car rental sign. “Let me be the first to apologize for my government. We're not all as shortsighted as the people in charge.”

  


The car that had been reserved for her was a large black SUV and Angela got in on one side while John took the other after loading her suitcase in the back seat. “Is your office nearby?” Angela inquired.

  


“It is but we don't need to go there for the time being. My assistants are in contact with your foundation to work out some of the details between Swiss and American law. The main thing we can do right now is to have you explain to me how your nano-bots actually work.” John explained as the SUV got underway.

  


“If we're not going to your office then where are we going?” Angela asked as their car made its way onto a bridge.

  


“There's a park over here I like to visit this time of year. It helps clear my head and lets me think. I think I'll need every bit of it to keep up with whatever you tell me.” John said with a grin with more than a hint of goofiness to it.

  


The car pulled into a parking lot its engine switched off once it had parked itself. They were far from the only people here. Groups of people, some small and others large, were moving along the sidewalks or milling about as they took pictures or looking at brochures in their hands. Ahead of Angela and John was a white stone building with pillars all around its perimeter. Past the building was a small lake and along the lake's edge were hundreds of cherry trees whose crooked branches were obscured behind countless white and pink petals.

  


“Oh, how pretty!” Angela exclaimed.

  


“Isn't it? You're lucky to come at this time of year to see the cherry trees while they're blooming. There's a festival here in Washington every year around this time that attracts a lot of tourists. It ends tomorrow but you're in time to see the fireworks show if you wanted.” John gestured at one of the paths and the two of them began to move. “That's not why you're here though. Would you care to explain how the nano-bots function? How does the process work?”

  


Angela bit at her lip as she considered the question.“All right. Well all our nano-bots are manufactured in Germany and programmed at the factory before being packaged and delivered to the hospitals where the operations take place.”

  


John paused for a moment before shaking his head. “That's not enough of an explanation. I need to understand every step of the process. Pretend I'm a patient who needs an operation. What happens between me and your factory?”

  


“Okay... Let's say you're playing football, just as an example, and you hurt your knee. You go to your doctor and he determines you have an ACL tear with an MRI. At that point they forward the information about your injury to us, with your surgeons professional opinion, so we can see what the nano-bots need to do. At that point we take a batch of blank nano-bots and program them with the necessary steps to perform the operations. They'll be mailed to the hospital where the operation is to be performed. They'll be injected into the body with a hypodermic needle as close to the part of the body being operated as possible. The staff on-site will monitor the procedure to make sure everything goes smoothly. After that it can vary depending on procedure but since we're talking about an ACL tear they'd put a brace on, maybe give you some painkillers or steroids and send you on your way.”

  


John was silent for a minute as he considered her explanation while they walked. Eventually he broke the silence with a question. “When you say staff on-site, who do you mean?”

  


“Surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists. There could be others depending on what's required.”

  


“I thought the whole point of nano-bots was that we wouldn't need surgeons anymore, Doctor Ziegler. The robots would do it all for us.”

  


Angela shook her head. “Nano-bots are a very powerful tool, but still just a tool. Think of them as a sort of Swiss army knife if you will. They can do a great many things, but they need someone to decide what actually needs to be done which is what the surgeon is for. Someone has to hook up IV's, determine the right kind of anesthesia and so on. Plus nano-bots are still a new technology so surgeons are required to be on hand in case something goes wrong. It's no different than vehicles still having a steering wheel when self driving cars were first introduced.” Angela quickly added after a second's pause.

  


“I see. So I do all that and the operation goes smoothly. What happens to the nano-bots after that? The FDA's statement was talking about long-term health concerns...”

  


“There are no long-term health concerns, at least none specific to nano-bots. All surgeries have a degree of risk but nano-bots are actually less dangerous than the surgical practices we have right now. After the surgeon determines an operation is complete the nano-bots are programmed to 'self-destruct' and eventually they'll be filtered by the kidneys and expelled through the urinary tract.”

  


“Isn't that something of a waste? I'm not an expert but I've seen speculation about the idea of nano-bots remaining in the body as sort of a cure-all. If you have a problem then the nano-bots would go fix it.”

  


Angela stopped next to one of the cherry trees and she rubbed a low hanging petal between her index finger and thumb. “I've read articles about that as well. It's an interesting idea and perhaps someday we'll get there but it's not feasible at the moment. Getting nano-bots to move around the body is extremely difficult. They're quite small and it can take them several minutes to move a few centim- inches depending on where they were injected.”

  


“In that case the FDA's decision wasn't medical, it was political. That's what it seemed like to me but I had to make sure there weren't any actual medical grounds to deny your application.” John stated as they began slowly walking again.

  


“I'm afraid you might be the victim of partisan politics. The senators who resigned from the Health committee and the head of the FDA belong to the same political party. It's not surprising to see an issue be divided along party lines but senators resigning from a committee of their own accord is highly unusual. Senators usually resign to avoid some sort of scandal but the timing of everything makes it clear something is going on behind the scenes. What I don't understand is what that might be. There isn't any benefit to rejecting your application that I can see. The only thing I can think of is that insurance or drug companies don't want nano-bots to be approved and had their lobbyists make sure they weren't. That's just a guess though.”

  


Angela came to a halt again and she stared at the man-made lake for several moments. “What am I doing here? I'm a doctor, not a politician. I should be in a hospital back in Geneva or Zurich, not over here wasting my time on a government that doesn't want my help.”

  


John gave her a sidelong look before grabbing his left pant leg and hiking the fabric up so she could see part of his ankle. Poking out of his black sock was a scar that had paled to a milky pink and would be smooth to the touch judging from its appearance. “I got this in the line of duty. I was flying a helicopter that got hit with an RPG and crashed. A piece of shrapnel from the explosion got me in the ankle. The medic did what he could which is why I still have that foot. We were pinned down by enemy fire for several hours before rescue arrived. By then it was too late for the doctors to be able to fix my wound and I've limped ever since.”

  


“So...”

  


“So that's why I'm here. Because I want you to succeed. Some of our officials have made a poor choice but it's one we have a chance to reverse. You're not an American citizen so there's restrictions on your ability to influence our politicians. Your best bet would be to rely on the American people. There's been a lot of public resentment over the last few days which will be good for you. Nothing motivates politicians quite like a threat to their seat. There have been protests in several cities already but the biggest one yet will take place here in Washington in a few days. The numbers vary but most credible sources are estimating over a hundred thousand people will be in attendance but it could easily be two hundred. Those kinds of numbers will be hard for them to ignore. In the meantime I'll have my office prepare a report that you can read over before we go to this meeting.”

  


“Huh?” Angela blurted out. “They told me that it would just be me and them in this meeting.”

  


John snorted at that. “I'm sure they did, but they can't actually stop you from having a lawyer present. It's just a tactic on their part. I'll even play along to prove it. You'll go in, sit down, say you're not willing to sign any papers or make any verbal agreements without legal representation present. Whoever is in charge on the other side of the table will give a very convincing apology, say it was a miscommunication on their part and they'll bring me into the room. It's a little bit of theater to put you off-balance then engender some goodwill to make you more amenable. I wouldn't be surprised if they kept you waiting either.”

  


Angela shook her head. “I hate politics.” She muttered to herself.

  


“That's understandable, but sometimes one must get their hands a little dirty to serve a greater good. Personally speaking, I prefer dealing with politics than what you must have dealt with in an operating room. The sight of blood makes me queasy. Is there anything else you'd like to cover?” Angela shook her head and John continued. “Well then if you'll excuse me, I'll go get the ball rolling at my office. Have a good day, Doctor Ziegler and welcome to the United States.”

  


As John walked off Angela turned her gaze to the far side of the reservoir. It was covered in trees but an obelisk towered above them. As she stood there she couldn't help but wonder what the person that memorial and this city would say about her efforts. What would he say about the government he helped to create being her obstacles. Ultimately though they were questions without answers except for the murmuring of the wind.

 


	6. Chapter 6

Angela's lips flattened in disapproval as she stared at the board that listed the prices for parking in this hotel's garage. It was price gouging to be sure but the alternative was roaming around a city she didn't know in search of a decent parking lot. She let out a sigh and hit a button on her vehicle's console to make it go find a parking spot. Once it had found a spot she hit a second button and got out. Angela grabbed her suitcase from the rear seats before trudging towards the elevator, her suitcase's wheels reverberating off the underground garage's cement walls.

  
  


A short walk through a courtyard in the middle of the building brought her to the lobby itself. Cherry blossom trees sitting in pots stood next to glossy marble pillars and golden lamps hung from the ceiling on chains. The curved front desk itself was made from the same kind of marble as the pillars and a length of dark wood ran all along atop of the stone. Behind it stood a pair of women dressed in business suits and behind them was a cabinet containing hundreds of square slots for mail. Angela crossed the lobby and stopped in front of the desk. “Hello, I'm here to check in.”

  
  


“Do you have a reservation?”

  
  


“Yes. It's under Ziegler.'

  
  


“Just a moment.” The woman said before looking at her computer screen as she typed on her keyboard. After a moment she handed a black key card to Angela with a smile. “Welcome to the Willard. Your room is three-forty. I hope you enjoy your stay, Doctor Ziegler.”

  
  


Angela started to turn away but stopped and turned back towards the receptionist. “I have a question if you don't mind. Do you know if there's any good restaurants nearby?”

  
  


“There are a few I can recommend, but you don't have to travel if you don't want to. The Willard has several restaurants on site and we offer in-room dining twenty four hours a day. However I must insist that you stop by the Round Robin Bar while you're here. It's been here since the hotel was built in eighteen-forty-seven and was a favorite for many of our most famous patrons. There's not a lot in the way of food but the cocktails and the bartender's stories more than make up for it.”

  
  


“Thank you.” Angela said before heading off to the elevators. A short ride later and she was on the third floor. She started to stride down the hallway but slowed to a halt at the sight of the first door. Above the room number was a metal plaque that read 'Martin Luther King, Jr. Suite'. Out of curiosity Angela pulled out her phone and began typing. A quick search for the name and Willard was enough to answer her question.

  
  


That room was where the civil rights activist had stayed during his march on Washington all those decades ago. The lobby she had just left had been where the finishing touches to his iconic speech had been made and hours later he delivered it on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial. Angela shivered and she hurried away as if something was nipping at her heels. She unlocked the door to her room and stuck her suitcase in the dark room before closing the door again. On her way back down the hall Angela averted her eyes from a particular door as she headed back into the elevator. Another search on her phone showed her where the bar was and Angela headed through the lobby again on her way to it.

  
  


Portraits in squares of four hung next to forest green panels. Wooden chairs with leather padding placed next to round marble tables around the room's perimeter save for one side where the chairs faced a red leather sofa over square marble tables. A circular counter dominated the center of the room itself. Chairs surrounded it on the outside buts its core was hollowed out to make room for the bartender and a round cabinet full of expensive alcohol along with all the paraphernalia used to make and serve them.

  
  


Multiple people were already scattered throughout the room, several of them at the bar counter itself. Angela moved towards an empty end and seated herself in the tall chair. The bartender moved towards immediately. “May I see some ID?” She dug in her pocket and pulled out her wallet and held it up for the bartender to look at. “Switzerland, huh? Is this your first time visiting the states?”

  
  


“It is, yes.”

  
  


“Well then, welcome to America. You here on business or are you taking a vacation?”

  
  


“Business.”

  
  


As soon as the word left her lips the bartender nodded briskly and handed her a menu, his demeanor cooling just a tad. “The Henry Clay is our signature cocktail but there's several options for you to choose from.”

  
  


The Henry Clay turned out to be a mint julep though she didn't have the faintest idea who Henry Clay was. Some of the other names on the menu turned out to be more familiar to her. Mark Twain was a whiskey with bitters and vermouth, Walt Whitman was a vodka cocktail, Charles Dickens was a gin and tonic. Angela turned the menu over and looked at the food options on the back. “I'll try the Henry Clay and a… patata brava.”

  
  


“Sure thing, Doctor Ziegler. Just so you know food is prepared in the Willard kitchen so it'll take them a couple of minutes to bring it over here once it's done.” He picked the menu up and stored it behind the bar again before meandering over to his computer screen and pressing buttons on it. Once he was done he moved to the other side of the bar and she could hear ice clinking against glass. A minute later and he came back with a highball glass garnished with a spring of mint in hand which he set down in front of her. It was full of crushed ice and had several mint leaves near the middle of the drink. To Angela's surprise the liquid was a dark green near the bottom but grew lighter as it approached the rim of the glass which had ice dusted with sugar sticking out of it. “Let me know if you need anything else, Doctor Ziegler.”

  
  


As the bartender wandered off Angela lifted the glass and took a sip from the straw sticking out of it. The drink was a little sugary for her taste but it wasn't hard to see why the bartender had described this as their signature cocktail. As she set the glass down a polite cough came from behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to see what it was.

  
  


A middle aged man dressed in a suit without any wrinkles was standing there. His hair was dark brown and he had dark blue eyes peering out from between sharp cheekbones and an angular jawline. “Excuse me, I couldn't help but overhear Tom say 'Doctor Ziegler'.” His voice had lost much of its accent but there was still enough left over for Angela to identify him as a Spaniard. “You are Angela Ziegler, the doctor from Switzerland yes?”

  
  


Angela put a hand on the bar and pushed her chair around so that she was facing him. “I am, yes. Have we met?”

  
  


“No, I'm afraid I have not had that pleasure. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Diego Molina, Spain's ambassador to the United States.” Angela extended her hand for him to shake but he took her hand in his and pressed his lips to the back of it in one smooth motion. “I apologize for the intrusion but I wanted to express my country's gratitude for your invention. We have seen an increase in the quality of our citizen's lives and your nano-bots have eased the burden on our healthcare system. It's still early in the year but our experts are predicting a savings of four billion dollars which can be reallocated to improving other areas of our infrastructure.”

  
  


Angela's lips made a circle as she silently mouthed the word 'oh', the number he had dropped rendering her momentarily speechless. “You're... you're very welcome. It's always nice to hear my bots are doing some good.”

  
  


Diego let go of her hand and his eyes flicked towards the other people in the bar and his next sentence came out in French instead of English. _'I heard the news about the FDA. If there is anything I can do to help don't be afraid to ask.'_

  
  


_'Thank you for the offer. I hired a firm to help me with this matter so I should be fine.'_

  
  


_'That is good to hear. A word of advice though. Americans can be quite obstinate and hotheaded when they think it will benefit them. Do not be alarmed if they choose to walk away from the table. More than likely that will be be a ploy to win concessions from you.'_

  
  


Diego glanced around the bar before switching back to English with his next sentence. “Have you been to the Round Robin before? It's a favorite haunt of mine so perhaps I could tell you some of its history if you'd like.”

  
  


Angela hesitated for a moment before taking another sip and shrugging. “Why not.”

  
  


Diego waited until she had stood and grabbed her drink before pointing at a pair of portraits nearby. “Henry Willard, on the right, founded the current building here in eighteen-forty-seven and it was designed by Henry Hardenbergh on the left there.” He led her to another set of portraits. “Ever since then the Round Robin has been a fixture in Washington. It's said that every president since Zachary Taylor has stayed at the Willard at one time or another. This is Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding and last but not least, Abraham Lincoln there.”

  
  


“You seem to know an awful lot about a bar in another country. I might be concerned if I was a Spanish citizen.” Angela dryly remarked before taking another drink.

  
  


Diego chuckled and pointed at yet more portraits. “I can understand that, but this isn't just another bar. If you want to rub shoulders with Washington's movers and shakers this is an excellent place to do it. I'm actually here for a meeting with the Secretary of State's chief of staff, but he's running late. Perhaps you might recognize these people over there.”

  
  


“That's Mark Twain, right?” Diego nodded and Angela glanced at the next one. “Charles Dickens and that's Walt Whitman. I'm not sure who that is.”

  
  


“That would be Nathaniel Hawthorne. He stayed here while covering the American Civil War. I can't quote him word for word but he described the Willard as the true center of Washington over the White House or State Department even.”

  
  


“There don't seem to be any women in these pictures.” Angela stated as she looked at the drawings of the four writers. “Just men.”

  
  


Diego turned slightly and gestured over towards portraits above the couch. “There's a portrait of Alice Roosevelt Longworth over there, but you're right. You're a guest of the hotel right now, I assume, so perhaps one day your portrait will hang next to hers.”

  
  


Angela's polite smile froze on her face and her cup halted halfway to her lips as Diego's statement sunk in. She had never heard of the Willard before today, much less known that the hotel would grant some of its more famous patrons immortality of a sorts. If it had been her choice then that fact would have sent her somewhere else, but she hadn't been the one to pick this hotel. Her second, Cedric, had been the one to approve this place. Now that she was here, Angela wondered if he might have chosen the Willard for that very reason.

  
  


If Diego had noticed her change in demeanor he gave no sign of it or perhaps was merely choosing to let the awkward pause slip by unnoticed. “I would like to stay and talk further, but the woman I'm waiting for just arrived. How long are you staying in Washington? One of the charities in town is hosting a gala in a week and I would be honored if you cared to accompany me.”

  
  


Angela kicked herself mentally and forced her smile back to normal. “Thank you, but no. I'm not staying for more than a few days. This whole trip is business.”

  
  


“The loss is mine then it seems.” Diego said, not appearing bothered at all by being turned down. “I do hope you find the time to see some of the sights before you go. There is a great deal of history here in Washington. Good day, Doctor Ziegler.”

  
  


As Angela sat back down in her chair she could see Alice Roosevelt Longsworth gazing back at her. Diego was right. There was history everywhere in Washington, even the bars had it. Whether or not she was going to end up a part of it... that a question she didn't want to think about.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Angela unlocked the door to her suite and stepped into the dark room. Her hand fumbled against the wall before she found the light switch to illuminate the suite. She wasn't looking at it however. Instead her attention was on her phone as she absentmindedly shut the door behind her with her free hand. The other was busy typing a message out.

  
  


_A: Are you awake, Fareeha?_

  
  


A few moments passed before Angela's phone dinged and a response came through.

  
  


_F: Yep. Was just brushing the cat and eating some dinner. How's Washington?_

  
  


_A: It's...it hasn't gone how I was expecting so far. I'm kinda freaking out right now._

  
  


_F: Why? What happened? Tell me everything._

  
  


Angela moved further into the room and sat down on an armchair as she began to relate what had happened since getting off the plane.

  
  


_F: Who is Martin Luther King JR? The name is kinda familiar but I can't remember any details off the top of my head._

  
  


_A: He was an American civil rights activist in the twentieth century, arguably the most notable in US history._

  
  


_F: Okay, I know who you're talking about now. 'I have a dream.' Why does his name being on a door bother you?_

  
  


_A: That's not what bothering me. It's this city. Everywhere I go there's memorials or tributes to people from the past. The people I've encountered so far have been treating me like one of them as well. Honestly it feels like a history book is trying to swallow me up and make me just another paragraph in it._

  
  


_F: *hug* I know you don't like people putting you on a pedestal but they're doing it because they're in awe. You created something amazing that's going to help millions and that blinds them to everything else about you._

  
  


_A: Everyone but you it seems. At least there's one person who can see past the nano-bots._

  
  


_F: :) Anything else I can do to help?_

  
  


Angela looked at her phone for a few moments as a memory flickered to life. They had had this conversation before, or at least one very similar to it. It had been the first time they had met. Fareeha had been asking why Angela had scheduled a session with the dominatrix. Her answer had been that everyone treated her like an entry in a history book and that had led to... well the beginning of all this.

  
  


_A: Switch to that app you had me install._

  
  


Angela rose up from the chair and she moved to a nearby window that ran from floor to ceiling and pulled the drapes shut. She repeated the act on the other two windows before heading to the door and making sure that the privacy plate was locked in place over the door's peephole. As she finished her phone made a noise to let her know that a message had arrived but this time the noise was a rapid heartbeat.

  
  


_F: Okay so I'm using the app now. What's up?_

  
  


The app in question was a program that Fareeha had introduced to Angela. It had four functions to it. Taking pictures, recording video, sending text messages and making phone calls. Those were all functions smartphones already had but this app included end to end encryption so that anything done through the application could only be accessed by the sending and receiving parties. That was how Fareeha had explained it, but as far as Angela was concerned it meant that Fareeha was the only person who could see what she sent through this app. Angela pulled the program in question up before answering.

  
  


_A: All you have to do is watch. And tell me how sexy I look._

  
  


Angela turned towards a standing mirror located near the doorway, presumably for guests to check their outfits before leaving the suite. In Angela's case she was wearing a pair of comfortable black pants, a gray tee-shirt, white socks and sneakers she could slip her feet out of without trouble. She lifted the camera and snapped a photo of her reflection in the mirror before sending it to Fareeha.

  
  


_A: Sorry I'm not dressed up for you mistress, but I had a long flight today. Let me make it up for you._

  
  


She set her phone down for a moment and pulled her shirt off to reveal a light gray bra made of cotton. Angela picked the phone up and snapped a second picture of herself.

  
  


_F: That's an improvement but I'm disappointed you're wearing a bra at all. I taught you better than that, slut._

  
  


The next photo to go through showed a half naked Angela holding the bra by the strap in one hand, the phone in her other. The one following that didn't have the bra anywhere in sight and Angela's left hand cupping the bottom of one breast.

  
  


_F: Better. You keep this up and I might accept your apology._

  
  


Angela turned so she was facing away from the mirror and kicked her shoes off before pushing her pants down to her ankles then off her feet. She grabbed an ottoman from in front of a nearby armchair and carried it over to in front of the mirror. She put her feet together and leaned forward at the waist while placing one hand on the ottoman to help support her weight. Angela turned her head to the side so she could look at her phone while aiming it at the mirror. A moment later and a shot of yellow briefs covering a full moon as she bent over was on its way to Fareeha.

  
  


_F: Almost perfect. Send me the same shot but without your underwear on._

  
  


_F: Mmmmm now it's perfect. I wish I was there so I could grab it. Next time you're at my place I'm gonna squeeze that all night long. Maybe I'll use my tongue too._

  
  


_A: I'm looking forward to it but now I'm at a loss. I took all my clothes off and I don't know what to do next!_

  
  


_F: How about you show me where you're staying? I'm sure I can come up with a way for you to further entertain me._

  
  


Angela switched her app from taking photos to recording a video that was being streamed, albeit on a delay, to Fareeha. She turned the camera away from her and began to rotate it around the room so Fareeha could see. The room had a single king sized bed covered with white sheets and white blankets with nary a crease or wrinkle to be seen. A large flat screen TV stood opposite the bed and there was a coffee/tea maker plus mini bar off to its right.

  
  


_F: What's through that door left of the TV?_

  
  


Angela walked over to the area in question and her phone gradually panned from one side of the room to the other. A round table surrounded by four chairs sat in the middle of the dining room and there were several armchairs and sofas as well.

  
  


_F: Hmmm there's potential there but I don't want you making a mess on such nice furniture. Show me the bathroom._

  
  


A shower with clear glass walls and a tiled floor sat in one corner of the room and opposite it was a bathtub plenty long enough for even a tall person to lie down in. White marble tiles with gold veins covered the bathroom and shower floor. Above the tub itself was a mosaic depicting a plant with blooming yellow roses.

  
  


_F: Now there's something we can work with. You had a long flight so I'm sure you're all gross and sweaty. Go take a shower. Keep it interesting but you're not allowed to masturbate._

  
  


She set the phone down on a counter so that it was pointing towards the shower before zooming in somewhat it'd have a better view of her once she was inside. Angela opened the door and stepped inside. The controls consisted of a pair of levers but there was also a handheld showerhead in addition to a showerhead that was mounted to the wall twenty centimeters or so above her head. Hanging from that was a metal caddy holding bottles of various sizes on it. She turned the lever and water began trickling out. Once she had got it to the right temperature Angela turned the other lever.

  
  


Warm water came rushing out of the metal nozzles and down onto the doctor. After a few seconds her hair was soaked through and plastered to her shoulders and neck. As water streamed down Angela turned around several times on the spot until her entire body, front and back, was glistening. She stopped and faced the camera before turning the water off. “I hope you like what you're seeing, mistress.” Angela yelled, hoping her voice would be understandable through the door.

  
  


She grabbed a small container of liquid soap from the caddy and poured some of it into her palm. Angela rubbed her hands together until lather was all over her fingers. Both hands made their way to the doctor's stomach and they leisurely circled all along her midriff until it was covered in streaks of white foam. Then they moved up to her breasts, squeezing and rubbing until her nipples were beginning to harden beneath a layer of suds. Angela made a pass over her shoulders before she leaned forward and began caressing her knees and gradually moving up to her hips. Her legs parted ever so slightly and Angela's hands slipped into the gap, leaving foam in their wake of her inner thighs. Once she was finished lathering herself up Angela grabbed the handheld showerhead and switched the water back on. She aimed the streams of water at her shoulders and moved it from side to side and ever downward as she rinsed the suds away. When Angela got to her hips she moved down along the front of one leg then the other before directing the water towards the inside of her thighs. Once those had been rinsed off Angela started to turn the head upwards towards the middle of her pelvis. Before it got there though she switched the water off and gave an exaggerated pout towards the phone. She opened the door and walked forwards, heedless of the water she was dripping on the floor, to the phone and blew a kiss at it. “How was that, mistress?”

  
  


_F: Mmmm, you did good. So good that I'm gonna give you a reward. Hop in the bathtub and let me watch you finish yourself off._

  
  


A wide smile crossed Angela's face and she picked the phone up, carrying it over to the tub. She paused for a few seconds before deciding on a location and set it down. It took another few seconds to adjust the zoom before she laid down, her head opposite the phone. Angela paused and took a deep breath as she looked at the electronic device. Fareeha was thousands of kilometers away on another continent with an ocean between the two of them. Even so, with this camera it was almost like Fareeha was actually in the room watching and listening to Angela.

  
  


Angela raised her feet up and spread them apart, placing one on each side of the tub. Her hands glided along her skin up to her knees then back down to her inner thighs. She glided the tip of her finger down against one edge of her outer lips before bringing it back up on the other side. Angela pulled her hand away and brought it up to her mouth so she could stick the index and middle fingers on her right hand into it. Her hand dropped back down and those fingers pushed against her entrance, making their way inside a few millimeters at a time. Once she had made it to the second knuckle Angela's inward motion stopped and she withdrew them only to put them back in right away. Her tempo began to rise until it plateaued at a brisk pace. Short whimpers began to accompany her thrusts and Angela's chest began to rise and fall as she drew closer to the end. When it arrived her hips started shaking and she sagged back against the bathtub to ride it out.

  
  


After it had passed Angela lifted her hand to her mouth once again, but this time she was cleaning her fingers off. She returned her gaze to the camera, her chest still rising and falling. “I think I might need another shower, mistress. Thank you for letting me finish.”

  
  


_F: You're welcome, Angela. I hope you're feeling better but now I think I might need to go finish myself after watching that._

  
  


Angela laughed and she reached forward with her clean hand to turn the recording off.

  
  


_A: That really helped. I hope you save that video because we're gonna have to watch it together in the future._

  
  


_F: Looking forward to it. Do you want me to keep texting?_

  
  


_A: No, that was exactly what I needed but thanks for offering. You go take care of you now. I'll see you when I get back to Geneva. <3_

  
  


_F: <3_

 


	8. Chapter 8

A knock came from the door to Angela's suite and she glanced down to make sure her bathrobe was tied shut and that she was decent before answering the door. A man was standing in the hallway, a cart on wheels in front of him. On the cart was a golden cloche dish next to a smattering of food, plates and silverware. Angela stepped away from the door and gestured vaguely towards a doorway in the suite. “Thank you, the dining room is through there.”

  
  


The waiter wheeled the cart forward and over to the table in her dining room. He began moving the food onto her table before placing a plate in front of one of the chairs. Next the waiter grabbed a handful of silverware and began setting the utensils onto the table, each of them precisely straight and evenly spaced from the others. He lifted the lid off the cloche dish then scooped its contents, scrambled eggs, applewood rashers and potato cubes that had been fried, onto her plate. Once he was done he turned towards. “Is there anything else I can get you, ma'am?”

  
  


Angela gave the table a quick glance before shaking her head. “No, that's everything. Thank you for the offer though.”

  
  


After she had finished speaking the waiter gave the table and its contents a lingering glance, as if to see if anything was wrong. “All right then, well if you change your mind then you can call the restaurant with your suite's phone. Have a good day, ma'am.” His tone was polite but there was a minuscule, albeit well hidden, curtness that hadn't been there earlier.

  
  


As he started to push the cart away it suddenly dawned on Angela what had caused the change. “Oh, right! Giving waiters a tip is the custom in America. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spurn you. We don't usually tip waiters in Switzerland so it's not something I'm accustomed to doing.” She turned her head to look towards the bedroom where her wallet was. “Umm... I actually don't have any cash on me right now. Are you working here tomorrow morning?”

  
  


“Yes, ma'am.”

  
  


“Okay well I'll go visit an ATM later today and I'll tip you for this tomorrow morning. How much do waiters expect? Ten dollars?”

  
  


“Typically waiters hope to get twenty percent of the final bill, ma'am. But people can tip more or less depending on how good they feel the service was. If I may ask, out of curiosity, how does Switzerland do it? Service charge?”

  
  


“I've never worked as a waiter but that sounds right to me. I think it's included in the cost of the meal but we can round up to the nearest franc if we choose.”

  
  


“I've got to get back to work, ma'am, but thank you for being understanding. Have a good day, ma'am.” The waiter grabbed a hold of the cart and headed out of the suite into the hallway, shutting the door behind him.

  
  


After he had gone Angela glanced at the rest of what he had brought her. Steam was rising out of a cup of black liquid along with a glass of apple juice and another glass containing almond milk. A bowl of cottage cheese and blackberries sat next to an unpeeled banana and for dessert there was a flaky pastry that she knew had chocolate at its core. Angela shook her head a little at the amount of food she had been brought.

  
  


“Is this really how much Americans eat for breakfast?” Angela asked the empty room. Even so Angela wasn't sure when she'd have another chance to eat today so she knew she was going to eat it all and pay for it later. Once she was done with that there was a folder she needed to review for her meeting tomorrow.

  
  


When Angela's car pulled into a parking spot the next morning John Schiff was already waiting for her. She got out of the car, a tan folder in hand. As she approached the lawyer her eyes flicked up towards the building they were standing in front of. She had looked the place up while on her way here. The Dirksen building, named after some senator, was a rectangular structure made of stone so white it almost looked to have been bleached. Skinny windows that nearly ran from ground level up to its roof were evenly spaced along the side she could see and the front door was made of glass and weathered yellowed wood.

  
  


John moved towards her and held his hand out for a handshake. “Today's the day, Doctor Ziegler. Are you ready?”

  
  


Angela eyed the door nervously for a moment before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. “As ready as I'm going to be.” She moved forward towards the doors and pushing one open as she headed inside towards where the senators were waiting.

  
  


A security guard was seated behind a desk in the building's lobby on the other side of a metal detector. Angela set her phone, keys and wallet in a tray before passing through the detector with a mental shake of the head at the security measure. The guard glanced up as she approached the desk. “May I help you?”

  
  


“Yes, I'm here to meet with Senator Miller. My appointment's at ten-thirty.”

  
  


The guard looked down at something on his desk and Angela could hear him opening a book and turning the page. “Doctor Ziegler? Your meeting is in room one forty. It's down that hall and on the left.”

  
  


When they arrived at the room in question it was empty aside from a dark brown oval table with leather chairs all around it. Angela gave John a questioning glance and he shrugged. “I said they would probably keep you waiting. Nothing we can do about it but... wait.” He took a seat and Angela followed suit, putting the room's door in front of her.

  
  


A few minutes later the door opened again, two men, one of them holding papers in his hands, filing into the room. The shorter of the two, a bald man stepped up to the table and held his hand out to Angela. “Miss Ziegler, I'm Senator Miller, the majority leader of the HELP committee. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

  
  


“It's _Doctor_ Ziegler. Thank you for seeing me, Senator.”

  
  


Miller hesitated briefly before letting go of her hand and sitting down. “My apologies, Doctor Ziegler. This is Senator Brown, the minority leader of the HELP committee.” Miller gave John a glance and John returned the glance with a faint grin that seemed almost amused. The senator cleared his throat and adjusted himself in his seat before returning his attention to Angela. “I appreciate you coming to Washington on such short notice, Doctor Ziegler. However, let me apologize for denying your application to the FDA. It's not something I wanted to do. To be honest I very much wanted to approve your application but we had to deny it so that we had a plausible excuse to invite you to Washington. Purely for the sake of public appearances and all that jazz.”

  
  


“I'm afraid I don't follow. If you wanted to approve my application then you could have easily done so. If you wanted to invite me to Washington then you could have just made a phone call. Why the deception?” Angela asked, more brusquely than she had intended.

  
  


“Nano-bots are a fantastic invention, Doctor Ziegler and you've done a great deal with them already but we feel that you could be doing more.” Miller earnestly said.

  
  


“Like what?”

  
  


Miller turned his head towards Brown and the other senator pulled out a set of papers that had been stapled together from his folder and slid it across the table to Angela. “If you'll sign these, Doctor Ziegler.” Miller requested.

  
  


Angela looked at the documents for a moment before sliding them over to John. “I'm not familiar with your country's laws so I'm not comfortable signing anything until I know what it is. Would you look this over for me, Mr. Schiff?”

  
  


“Gladly. It'll take me a few minutes.” John said as he reached into his suit and pulled out a pair of reading glasses.

  
  


“I'm sure the senators won't mind waiting.” Angela said with a polite smile toward the two men on the other side of the table. Miller returned the smile whereas Brown didn't react at all.

  
  


John hummed quietly to himself as he pored over the document for several minutes. Eventually he got through the last page and signed his name at the bottom of it. “There's nothing to be concerned about. It's an NDA that states everything discussed in this meeting is confidential and that a breach will be prosecuted.”

  
  


He slid the papers back to Angela and held his pen out to her. She took it and signed her name below his before handing the pen back. “So, what exactly do you think I could be doing with the nano-bots?”

  
  


“I've been following your work since you were conducting human trials and one thing I've noticed is that all of your nano-bots have gone to hospitals. One of the things I wanted to discuss with you was the possibility of providing nano-bots to our military doctors. Soldier's are more likely to encounter severe trauma than your average civilian and having nano-bots in the field would help mitigate of those wounds.” John stirred and a shadowed look passed over his face at that but he said nothing. Miller didn't seem to have noticed as he continued speaking. “A second thing is that we're interested in researching other ways to deliver your nano-bots.”

  
  


Giving her nano-bots to the US military and developing other delivery mechanisms. She had been asked about the possibility of providing her nano-bots to militaries by other countries but Angela had always rejected that request. The odd thing here was asking about other delivery mechanisms. As she sat there her thoughts began moving faster and faster as she started weighing possible reasons behind such a request. Then the fact that they had asked it after talking about military applications shoved its way to the front of said thoughts.

  
  


“You want to weaponize nano-biotics.” Angela said, her lips flattening in disapproval.

  
  


“I'm not sure-” Miller began but Angela quickly cut him off.

  
  


“Don't try to hide it!” Angela slammed her hands down on the table and stood up as she began to berate them. “That's the only reason for wanting an alternative delivery mechanism. Let me save you some trouble. The answer is _no._ I created nano-biotics to save lives. You've got a lot of nerve and frankly I'm disgusted that you'd think to try and turn them into a weapon. ”

  
  


She started to step back from the table but Brown chose that moment to pipe up. “Don't be naive, Doctor Ziegler. You think we're the only country who's thought about it? I can tell you right now that we're not. Do you really think it hasn't occurred to China or the Russians? I'd even bet good money that one of the Ministries in Oasis is trying to reverse engineer nano-biotics as we speak. The difference between us and them is that we came to you instead of doing it on our own. It's only a matter of time until someone reverse engineers your work so the question is whether or not you'll help us get there first.”

  
  


Angela stared at the second senator for a long moment before shaking her head. “ _No._ I created nano-biotics to save lives, not to take them. If you want to go down that road then you're going to do it without me and the blood that comes with it will be on your hands. Not mine.”

  
  


Without another word she headed for the door and slammed it shut behind her. As she stormed down the hall John exited the room and hurried after her. “Doctor Ziegler. Doctor Ziegler. Wait!”

  
  


As she slowed to a halt John closed the distance between them and she glared balefully at him. “What?”

  
  


“I know you're angry and I understand why. Really I do. But there's a lot of people in this country who could use your help.”

  
  


“Including you?”

  
  


“Yes, including me. You're right, I'm not impartial, but right now we still have a chance to figure out a compromise. That's the whole point of negotiations, but if you walk away now then there's three hundred and fifty million people who won't have access to nano-biotics in America.”

  
  


The doctor stood there for a moment as she looked at John. Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek suddenly. “In America. Thank you for your help Mr. Schiff. I'll make sure you receive a bonus for your hard work.”

  
  


She turned and strode off, leaving a suddenly bewildered lawyer behind her as she pulled out her phone. Angela's fingers began tapping out a message.

  
  


_A: Meeting went badly and we're not going to get approved by the FDA. Can't say what went wrong because I signed an NDA. We're not going to just forget the Americans though. Here's what we're going to do. Make sure that our applications to Canada, Mexico and all the countries in the Caribbean go through. Once that's done reallocate the nano-bot's we've been stockpiling for the US to those countries and start reaching out to airlines and hotels. I want to start setting up deals for American citizens so they can travel abroad, at a discounted rate, and have surgeries done outside the US. Medical tourism kind of stuff._

  
  


Almost immediately her phone buzzed in response. It was late in the evening back in Switzerland but Cedric still had his business phone on him. Knowing her second he probably would have stayed up this evening until he had heard from her.

  
  


_C: What if the hotels and airlines aren't willing to offer a discount? They might anticipate an increase in traffic from the US and not want to lower their prices._

  
  


_A: There's plenty of hotels out there and one of the airlines will be willing to do this if we go public with this. Run fundraisers and PR campaigns, slam the FDA and US government, appeal to philanthropic billionaires, that sort of thing._

  
  


_C: This won't be easy but I think it's possible. Do you think there's a chance the US government will come around or are the negotiations dead?_

  
  


_A: They're dead for now but Senators can be replaced. If / when they are we can come back to the table and see if they're more reasonable than they were today._

  
  


_C: Is that everything, Doctor Ziegler?_

  
  


_A: Almost, reschedule my flight to tomorrow morning. There's no reason for me to stay here any longer. Send me the information when that's done._

  
  


Angela flipped away from the conversation with Cedric to another person on her phone.

  
  


_A: I'll be heading back to Geneva tomorrow so I'll be seeing you soon._

  
  


There wasn't a response right away but doubtless the news would put a smile on Fareeha's face when she read the message. For right now it was putting a smile on hers in spite of the way this day had gone. At least she would be out of this country and on her way home soon enough.

 


	9. Chapter 9

One of Angela's hands held onto her suitcase's handle and the other held her phone as she trundled through the jet bridge that led into the airport. Night had fallen while she had been on the plane though it might be more accurate to say the plane had arrived in a place where it was already night after taking off in the morning. A pair of messages had arrived during that time period. She flipped to the first one.

  
  


_F: Not sure what time you're getting in but feel free to drop by my place if you feel like it._

  
  


A smile crossed Angela's lips at the invitation and she stepped to the side so that she wasn't in the way of the other passengers disembarking from the plane.

  
  


_A: I'll do that. I'm going to stop by the store on the way. Any treats you've been craving that I can get?_

  
  


_F: The only treat I want to eat is you._

  
  


Angela's face started to turn red and she quickly flipped to the conversation with Cedric. Any more of that and people might notice something was amiss.

  
  


_C: I've been keeping an eye on the media and there's been a leak. It hasn't picked up steam yet but word that the negotiations failed is starting to get out. I want us to get out ahead of this so I've arranged for reporters from the BBC, Associated Press, and Al Jazeera to meet you at the airport. Your statement doesn't have to be long. Just say that both sides weren't able to come to a satisfactory arrangement but that you don't intend to forget about the American people._

  
  


Her cheek started to twitch as she read the message. If there was a profession she had reason to detest it was reporters. She hadn't had a problem with them for most of her life but then she had invented nano-biotics. An unexpected consequence of that act had seen a swarm of reporters arriving in Switzerland to get to her. For the entirety of the next two weeks it had been nearly impossible for her to do anything in private. Go to work and there were cameras photographing her. Make a run to the grocery store and there were cameras photographing her. Try to spend some time with some of her friends and there were cameras photographing her. Not to mention the endless interviews requests. It had eventually died down as the world moved onto the latest and greatest story, but the experience had left a bad taste in her mouth.

  
  


_A: Fine._

  
  


Angela let out a sigh and put her phone back into her pocket before grabbing her suitcase and trudging her way towards the exit. The terminals of the airport went unnoticed as she walked through them. She stopped before heading into the arrivals area and looked down at herself. A red shirt and khaki pants. Hardly the kind of thing suitable for a short interview with international media outlets. Angela turned and headed to the nearest bathroom, taking advantage of a stall in it to change into a black pencil skirt, a white dress shirt with long sleeves and a pair of black dress shoes. After changing she stopped in front of the mirror and pulled a makeup kit out of her bag. It took her a few minutes but soon enough her face was covered in makeup meant for the cameras and their audiences. Lastly she gathered her hair up and bound it up into a ponytail with an elastic band.

  
  


Once she was finished Angela headed back out in the airport towards where the reporters were. As she moved through the arrivals area they began making a beeline through the crowd towards her. There were six of them that she could see. Three of them were carrying cameras and the other three held microphones in their hands. She glanced towards the crowd around them. "It's pretty busy here. Is there a spot you'd recommend setting up?"

  
  


One of the cameramen pointed down the terminal next to a couple of restaurants that only had a few people in line. "Over there is pretty quiet and we can use the windows as a backdrop."

  
  


When they were in position Angela turned her back to the wall and straightened her back as she steepled her fingers in front of her stomach. She looked at the reporter from Al Jazeera. "Once the cameras are rolling you can ask me about the meeting in Washington. I'll give you an answer and then we're done. Is that satisfactory?"

  
  


The reporters murmured in assent and stepped forward, holding their microphones up to make sure they could clearly record her upcoming dialogue. The cameramen fiddled with their cameras and Angela could see three red lights staring at her. "Do you have any comment on the leak claiming negotiations between you and the American government have broken down, Doctor Ziegler?"

  
  


"Yes I do. I am sorry to say that the news is true. I met with Senator Brown and Senator Miller yesterday in Washington. I'm not at liberty to reveal what was discussed but we were unable to come to an arrangement that would satisfy both sides involved. However I would like to stress that the Ziegler Foundation has not forgotten that there are Americans who would benefit from Nano-Biotics and we are currently exploring our options at this time." Angela fell silent and waited several seconds before slashing her hand across her throat. "Did you get it?"

  
  


It took a moment for the camera men to check and she could hear her voice speaking out from all three cameras as they reviewed the footage before approving it. "All right, thank you for meeting me on such short notice." Angela grabbed her suitcase and began walking away from the reporters. Hopefully she wouldn't have to deal with their ilk again anytime soon.

  
  


As Angela's car pulled up in front of Fareeha's place she was in the middle of sending a text from her phone.

  
  


_A: I'm out in front now. Is the door locked?_

  
  


_F: Nope. Come on in._

  
  


Angela hopped out of her car and inside the house. Fareeha was seated on the couch in the living room, a video game controller in her hands. She was wearing a pair of baggy gray sweatpants, a shirt that had been dyed every color of the rainbow and her feet were bare. Fareeha glanced up as Angela entered and she eyed the doctor's outfit for a moment. "I think I might be underdressed. Were you thinking of going out somewhere?"

  
  


"Huh?" Angela blurted before looking down at herself. "Oh right. I had to do an interview at the airport so I got dressed up." She reached up and pulled the band off of her ponytail. She ran her fingers through her hair, tossing it up before letting it settle down onto her shoulders. "I'll take it off if you want."

  
  


"Ummm not just yet. Turn around. I want to get a good look at that butt."

  
  


Angela laughed and turned around so that Fareeha could see her rear end. "Do you like it?"

  
  


"Holy shit, yes." Fareeha breathed as she gazed at Angela's posterior. "There's nothing quite like a strong confident woman wearing a pencil skirt that hugs her hips. Get over here." Fareeha patted a spot on the couch beside her.

  
  


Before Angela could sit down a furry creature bounded into the room and up to her. Jonesy meowed and rubbed her head and side against Angela's ankles. The cat walked away then stopped and looked back at Angela before meowing again. "What is it, Jonesy?"

  
  


"She wants f-o-o-d. Don't let her fool you though, Angela. She already had breakfast."

  
  


"Are you trying to trick me, Jonesy?" Angela cooed. "Come here." She lifted the cat up and cradled it in her arms as she sat down on the couch next to Fareeha. "So what have you been up to, Fareeha? I want to hear everything."

  
  


"What? You just went to America for a big meeting. That's more exciting than anything I've been doing the last few days. Don't you want to talk about that?" Fareeha asked.

  
  


Angela shook her head as she slowly began petting Jonesy. "Honestly I just want to forget all about that trip. I've never liked politics and now it's all I do. Days like these make me regret ever inventing nano-biotics in the first place."

  
  


"You don'tactually mean that, do you?"

  
  


"No, not really I suppose. I guess I miss the days when I was working as a surgeon. Everything was simpler back then and I think I was happier back then." Fareeha shifted her legs on the couch as she glanced down at the floor and Angela was quick to explain what she had meant. "I mean with my job. I was happier in the operating room. Dealing with politicians is just... aggravating.” She abruptly shook her head and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. “Sorry I shouldn't be so whiny.”

  
  


Fareeha set her controller aside and took Angela by the shoulders drawing the doctor's head down onto her lap. “Nonsense, you're just venting about your job. The only one of us whose been whiny about your job is me back when we went grocery shopping after I arrived at your vacation house.”

  
  


“I remember that. You said you were having problems seeing me as something other than Doctor Ziegler. Was it really that hard? We had already done a session by then.” Angela asked as she moved her hips so that she was lying down on her back and that Jonesy was resting on her stomach.

  
  


“Well... yes. The first time I heard of you was when all the news reports and interviews started popping up. The media couldn't get enough of you and it wasn't hard to see why. I had a celebrity crush on you and then one day you walked into my... 'office'. At first I thought I was dreaming but you were really there. If I had to pick a word for how I felt right then it'd be intimidated.”

  
  


“I'm not intimidating!” Angela exclaimed. “How am I intimidating?”

  
  


“Look at yourself, Angela. You're brilliant, confident, kind, beautiful, extremely successful, rich and you've done more to help others than most people ever could. Honestly you're basically a goddess in every way. At least that's how I saw you until the last couple of weeks. Now I know that you're all of that plus you're kinky and you like me for some strange reason.”

  
  


“Like.” Angela slowly drew the word out and she looked to the side for a split second. “May I ask you something, Fareeha?”

  
  


“What is it?”

  
  


“When I said 'I love you' it seemed to make you nervous. Is there something wrong with me saying that to you?”

  
  


Fareeha bit her bottom lip and she slowly exhaled. “There's nothing wrong with you saying that. The thing is that my mother raised me not to use that word lightly. If I tell another person that I love them I really mean it. I know not everyone sees it the same way but it's always a little disconcerting to hear it just tossed around.”

  
  


“Okay well I'll say something else then.” Angela said as she began to rub her chin. “Question is what. Really like? Admire? Care for? Adore? I like adore.” The doctor grabbed a hold of Fareeha's hand and entwined their fingers together. “I adore you just so you know.”

  
  


“Well I already knew that and I adore you too.” Fareeha said with a gentle smile as she squeezed Angela's hand. “So now what?”

  
  


“I want to hear what you've been doing while I've been gone. It'll help get my mind off things.”

  
  


“All right... well today is laundry day which is why I'm wearing this.” Fareeha pointed at the horribly clashing outfit she was wearing. “Mostly I've just been playing with the cat, video games and watching movies. I don't have to go back to work for another couple weeks since you booked me for a month.”

  
  


Just as Fareeha finished speaking a buzzing sound came from one of her pockets. She reached down with her free hand and pulled it out. “Hang on a second, Angela.” She tapped her thumb against the screen and put it up to her ear. “Hey mum. Nothing much really, just some laundry. Tonight? I mean I could but I have company right now so I don't know... bring her? I don't... okay okay I'll ask her.”

  
  


Fareeha lowered the phone to her shoulder as she looked back down at Angela. “My mum's inviting me to dinner and she wants to know if you'd come. It'd be the two of us, her and Jack.”

  
  


“Whose Jack?”

  
  


“He's my mum's... boyfriend I guess? I don't really know what to call him. He and mum have been together for a long time but they've never gotten married. I don't really know why.”

  
  


“So he's not your father?”

  
  


“No, no, no. My father's a man named Sam from the First Nations in Canada. Jack's from the States.”

  
  


“The First Nations? What does that mean?” Angela asked, her brow furrowed.

  
  


“First Nations is what some of the indigenous tribes in Canada. ”

  
  


“So your father is from Canada and Jack is from America. Where is your mother from if I may ask?”

  
  


“Egypt.” Fareeha's phone started buzzing again and she quickly answered it. “Sorry about that mum, Angela was asking some questions. Hang on. Do you want to go, Angela?”

  
  


Angela hesitated as she considered the question. Meeting the parents, or possibly parent in this case, was always a big moment. In her case there was an extra little tidbit that Ana Amari knew about Angela's relationship with her daughter Fareeha. A little tidbit that involved ropes and handcuffs.

  
  


“...Sure, I'll go.”

  
  


If only Angela felt as confident as she sounded.

 


	10. Chapter 10

"Have the car park over there." Fareeha pointed at a spot marked by white lines on the edge of the street."

  
  


Angela tapped on her console and her car began moving towards the spot Fareeha had indicated. As it did so she looked out the window at their destination. The two story house had white walls and a peaked roof covered in weathered russett tiles. It had a green lawn split into two different levels with one of them standing half a meter above the other. There was a moderately long driveway with a sedan car tucked away in an open garage carport.

  
  


"What's wrong with parking in the driveway, Fareeha?"

  
  


Fareeha didn't answer right away, instead opting to get out of the car and pointed at a metal circle covered in orange paint that was beginning to chip off and a wooden backboard that had been bolted to the garage roof. "Jack is a die-hard basketball fan. You park in the driveway and there's a very good chance of your car getting hit by a basketball. Safer to park in the street."

  
  


Angela eyed the hoop for a second before looking down at herself. She had changed back into the wrinkled khaki pants and red shirt that she had worn on her flight back to Switzerland. "I should have stayed in the pencil skirt. This is too casual." She said while trying to brush some of the wrinkles in her shirt away.

  
  


"You're fine, Angela. This isn't a black tie event, it's just dinner with my mum and Jack. Come on."

  
  


That was easy for Fareeha to say since she had had the opportunity to change at home. The sweatpants and tye shirt were gone, replaced by a loose fitting forest green sweater and slim black pants. Fareeha started heading up the driveway and towards the front door. She pressed the bell and took a step back to wait. After several seconds the door opened and a person that could only be Jack was standing on the other side.

  
  


He was near two meters tall, leanly built and had spiky tufts of white hair covering up a receding hairline. His bright blue eyes peered out of a craggy face that had seen its fair share of decades. "You must be Doctor Ziegler." He held his hand out.

  
  


"Just Angela is fine. No need to be so formal." The doctor said as she took his hand and shook it.

  
  


"Well then you can call me Jack." He let go of her hand and turned towards the other woman present. "Hey 'Reeha, gonna give me a hug?"

  
  


Fareeha bit back a scowl as she hugged the other man then headed past him into the house. "It's _Fa_ reeha, Jack." She called back at them.

  
  


"Reeha?" Angela asked.

  
  


"It's what everyone called her when she was a kid. She started going by Fareeha when she was a teenager but I still call her Reeha every now and then to bug her." Jack said with a lopsided grin. "Come on in."

  
  


Angela slipped out of her shoes and left them next to the doorway as she headed in. Past the entryway the house opened up to a large and airy living room. A charcoal gray fabric sofa and black wing chairs sat in a semi circle around a television hanging on the wall. Behind the furniture was a row of portraits. Most of them featured Jack, Ana, and Fareeha in them but there were a couple of a man she didn't recognize. The TV was currently displaying an American news channel but the volume had been muted.

  
  


"Hello, Angela." Ana said from the kitchen doorway. She was holding a bowl full of a chocolately looking mix in one hand while the other was stirring it with a whisk. "Thanks for coming by. Jack made too much pork tenderloin so I'm glad there's another person here to eat it. I'll get fat if you don't take your share."

  
  


"There's no such thing as too much pork tenderloin." Jack answered. "If we don't eat it all then that just means we'll have leftovers."

  
  


"Pfaw, you always say whenever you make too much food." Ana said with a shake of her head but she sounded amused rather than annoyed. "Would you mind giving me a hand, Fareeha?"

  
  


"Sure." Fareeha said before making a beeline towards her mother. Once inside the kitchen she looked around for whatever it was she was supposed to be helping with. The oven was turned on but there was nothing inside yet. Used bowls, kitchen utensils and silverware had been loaded into the dishwasher and it had even had detergent in the dispenser. The one thing that looked incomplete was the bowl in Ana's arms. "Ummm what exactly do you need help with?"

  
  


"I don't." Ana stated as she began pouring the mix into a waiting pan. "I wanted to talk to you." She glanced past Fareeha towards the living room where Angela and Jack were. "I want to make sure you're doing all right." Ana said with a pensive look on her face as she returned her attention to her daughter.

  
  


"Why wouldn't I be?" Fareeha asked, baffled at her mother's sudden display of concern.

  
  


"You and I have never spoken very much about your job. It's not because I disapprove but because I don't want to know the details of what you're doing. However I do happen to recall you telling me that you've always kept a strict line with your clients to avoid things getting messy emotionally. From what I've been able to tell you've never had any issues but now I don't know want to think."

  
  


"I know, but it's not a problem. I wouldn't have brought her here if my feelings for her weren't genuine. I can tell the difference between emotions that are real and those that only happen because I top for her."

  
  


Ana rapped her whisk against the pan to get some of the mix off it before picking up a spatula and beginning to scrape the insides of the bowl. "I understand that and I'm not questioning _you._ I'm not sure about her. I mean – that's _Angela Ziegler_ sitting in my living room. You're a wonderful woman but someone like her could be with just about anyone she chooses. I just want to know that she's with you because of who you are and not what you do for her is all." She set the bowl down and opened the oven up, sliding the pan inside then closed the door and set the timer. "That'll take about half an hour or so. Do you mind helping me set the table?"

  
  


"Ummm... sure." Fareeha hesitantly said, still trying to process the anvil her mother had just dumped on her. Ana pushed four plates into her hands and Fareeha slowly turned to head towards the table sitting between the kitchen door and the living room. As she was setting the plates down she could hear Jack's voice from the living room.

  
  


"North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas and Indiana. Those are the blue bloods, but Indiana is the best of course."

  
  


"But why do you call them blue bloods? Why not purple? It's the color most often associated with royalty going all the way back to the Roman Empire." Angela asked.

  
  


"I don't know, actually. Alliteration maybe?" Jack said with a shrug. As he started to open his mouth again the television changed from an anchor talking into the camera to the clip that Angela had recorded at the airport earlier that day. "How's that for timing? You're on my TV and couch at the same time." Jack started to look around for something before yelling towards the kitchen. "Hey, Ana. Where's the remote?"

  
  


"How should I know? You were the last one to touch it."

  
  


Jack started digging between the cushions next to him before his hand came up with remote in hand. His thumb pressed down on it and Angela's voice came out of the television. "We are currently exploring our options at this time.”

  
  


Jack's head turned towards the doctor as the version of her on the TV finished speaking. “What's that about?”

  
  


“Uhm....”

  
  


Before Angela could say anything further the anchor from before began speaking once again. “There's been no official statement from Senator Brown and Senator Miller, but an anonymous source online claiming to be from Senator Miller's office has stated that approval of nano-biotics for use in the US was contingent on Doctor Ziegler agreeing to the weaponization of her invention. The doctor's statement indicated nothing of the sort, but would explain why she returned to Switzerland.”

  
  


Angela shifted uneasily on the couch as the announcer spoke. Well that cat was out of the bag now but it hadn't come from her. It was possible Brown's office had been the source of the leak but there had been another person in that meeting besides her and the Senators. Schiff certainly had a reason to want nano-biotics to be approved and a leak of this nature was sure to put pressure on the US government.

  
  


“Is that true?” Jack asked as he muted the TV.

  
  


“I can't answer that.” Angela replied as she avoided meeting his eyes. “I signed an NDA before the meeting.”

  
  


Jack snorted at that. “I'll take that as a 'yes' then. I'm not surprised they would try but they definitely went about it all wrong. They should have accepted your application and used that to get their hands on nano-bots to work with.”

  
  


“Wait, wait, wait.” Angela couldn't believe what she was hearing. “You... approve of this? I invented nano-biotics to save lives and they wanted to turn it into a weapon! How could you possibly think this is a good idea?”

  
  


“It's no different than MAD and nukes. Eventually everyone will have nano-biotic bombs or some such and things will balance themselves out. Don't use them on us and we won't use them on you. Keeps the nuclear powers from getting into a real war with each other."

 

Angela rubbed at one of her temples, vainly hoping to avert the headache she knew was already on its way. “Nuclear weapons, another thing that never should have been invented. Every time I think about those I want to go back so I can slap Oppenheimer and Truman in the face.”

  
  


“Why?”

  
  


“Why? _Why?”_ Angela sputtered. “Because they invented and _used_ the most horrific weapon ever invented? _Twice!_ That's a pretty good reason to me.”

  
  


“You're right. We used the bomb twice. but doing so saved more lives then it took.”

  
  


“What?” Angela started to laugh at what Jack had said. “How-, what? Okay fine explain this to me.” She said disdainfully. “How did dropping two _nuclear bombs_ on Japan save lives?”

  
  


“I know it sounds strange at first, but you have to consider the circumstances the Allies were encountering in its war with Imperial Japan. The Japanese Army didn’t believe in surrendering and their troops would fight to the death or kill themselves to avoid being captured. Some of those Pacific islands would have garrisons of ten or twenty thousand troops and the Allies would take maybe a hundred prisoners after a month of fighting. When the Japanese began to lose the air battle they started having some of their pilots crash their planes into American ships to try and kill as many people as possible. Those were the people we were fighting.”

  
  


“So how does that justify using atomic bombs?” Angela said,

  
  


“Because the Japanese didn't believe in surrender. They would rather die than be shamed in that manner. Japan had millions of soldiers and conscripts ready to fight any invasion the Allies could mount. There would have been a lot more deaths if an invasion had taken place instead of using the atomic bomb to try and end the war.”

  
  


“Are you a historian or something?” Angela asked with a raised eyebrow. “You seem to know an awful lot about World War Two.”

  
  


“No, I'm not. I learned about this when I was training at a military academy. It was covered as part of our ethics education.” Jack explained.

  
  


“You were a soldier?”

  
  


“I was. Special Forces, actually. It's how I met Ana as a matter of fact.”

  
  


Angela turned to look towards the kitchen only to see Fareeha and Ana standing there watching in silence. “So... you were Special Forces too, Ana?”

  
  


“I was, dear, but not in the US Military. I served in the Egyptian Army.”

  
  


“I'm starting to sense a story-” Angela began but Ana shook her head as she cut the doctor off.

  
  


“There is dear, but... let's just say that you're not the only one with secrets here.” Ana said with a kindly smile that somehow failed to make Angela feel any better.

  
  


“Ummm... okay... you know what, I think this evening got off the wrong foot. I wasn't expecting... this.” She turned back towards Jack. “Let's start over. Hi, I'm Angela Ziegler.”

  
  


“I'm Jack Morrison. Do you like basketball?”

  
  


“.... yes.” Angela said in a small voice, knowing she was likely going to learn more about the sport than she had ever wanted to know.


	11. Chapter 11

"Thank you for coming over here, Fareeha. It was good to catch up with you." Ana briefly embraced her daughter before turning towards the doctor. "And it was interesting to meet you, Miss Ziegler. I never expected to have such a famous guest in my home."

  
  


"It was a pleasure." Angela said as Fareeha's mother made no move to give her a hug. "We should do this again sometime."

  
  


"Of course, dear. Just let us know when." Ana said after holding back a chuckle. Her voice was polite, but it was still obvious she didn't believe what she was saying anymore than Angela did.

  
  


Once they were back in Angela's Aston Martin the doctor covered her face with her hands. "If I never hear the names Bobby Knight or Indiana again, it'll be too soon. How can he spend so much time talking about basketball? That man is _insane._ Are all Americans as obsessed with basketball as he is?"

  
  


“Basketball's pretty popular over there, but Jack's from Indiana so he's a special level of crazy about the sport. If it was warmer out he probably would have tried to make you play with him.”

  
  


Angela shuddered and started punching a destination into her car's computer. “No thank you. I know it's just him being passionate about the game, but I can see that getting old really, _really_ quickly. How long did you live with him?”

  
  


“Seven years or so. He's normally not so bad, but he was hamming it up tonight.” Fareeha explained with an annoyed twist to her lips as the car got underway.

  
  


“What? Why? I could tell they don't really like me, but he'd go that far just to irritate me?”

  
  


Fareeha started to shake her head then stopped and she sighed. “I don't think it's that they don't like you. They're not sure about you and me. When I was in the kitchen my mum asked whether you were with me because you have feelings for me or if you were with me because I'm a professional dominatrix.”

  
  


Angela turned her head towards the window and she stared out of it at the cars zipping by on the opposite side of the road for several long moments. When Angela's head turned back towards Fareeha her eyes were beginning to water and her lips were trembling. “I know our relationship isn't exactly conventional, but you don't... you don't think that do you?”

  
  


Fareeha put her hand on Angela's shoulder as she shook her head. “No.” She softly and emphatically stated. “I've never thought that, not even for a moment. Bondage was the reason you first came to me and now that I'm looking back on I think we both know, deep down, it's not why you really asked me to stay with you for a month. I tried to keep things professional at first, but we're long past that. My mum may not believe it yet, but she hasn't seen the way you look at me when we're together. This is real.”

  
  


“Is it? I adore you... a lot. Too much now that I'm thinking about it. We've only started to get to know each other in the last two weeks and I feel this strongly about you. Most people have only gone on a couple of dates in that amount and here I am meeting your mother and whatever Jack is to you.”

  
  


“In a vanilla relationship that'd be true, but relationships that involve BDSM have a certain intimacy to them that vanilla ones lack. The first time we met you let me tie you up, spank you with my belt and stick a dildo in you. Allowing yourself to be restrained like that takes a great deal of trust in the other person. You're making yourself vulnerable both physically and emotionally. It's not a one way street either. The sub may be putting themselves in the top's hands. but the top also takes on responsibility for the other person's welfare. The result of that partnership means BDSM relationships have a tendency to progress faster than normal ones.”

  
  


Angela gave a gentle smile as she took Fareeha's hand off her shoulder and pressed it against her cheek. “I ask a question about bondage, even if not on purpose, and you have the answer. That's my Fareeha all right.” She fell silent for several seconds before speaking in a softer voice. “Is there anything I can do to help convince your mother our relationship is genuine?”

  
  


“Probably, but she's my mum so she's my problem to handle. I should have said something to her at dinner, but I was blown away that'd she be so blunt about it and I didn't want to make the evening worse. I'll do it right now if that's okay with you.” Fareeha stated as she pulled her phone out. Before Angela could answer Fareeha had already started, her thumbs furiously pounding away at the screen. After a few minutes Fareeha piped up again. “Turn the car around, we need to go back.”

  
  


“What?” asked a confused Angela, taken aback by the sudden statement.

  
  


“I gave them a piece of my mind and now they want to apologize.”

  
  


“Uhh... okay...” Angela started tapping on the computer screen as she began to program a new destination in. The car immediately began moving lanes as it started to head back to where they had just come from.“That was an awfully quick turn around. What exactly did you say to them?”

  
  


Fareeha shrugged her shoulders as she put her phone back into her pocket. “Let's just say I 'yelled'

at them for how they treated you. I don't get angry very often so they pay attention when I do.”

  
  


When they arrived back at Ana's house the car parked itself in the same spot as it had before. Angela got out and hesitantly followed Fareeha up to and then through the front door. Ana and Jack were sitting side by side on the couch, both of them looking decidedly less sure of themselves than they had been earlier that evening. Angela seated herself in one of the chairs flanking the couch and Fareeha took the chair on the opposite side. “So.” Angela began after a moment's silence. “Fareeha says you wanted to talk to me?”

  
  


“Ah... yes. I suppose I'll start.” Ana's hands were folded in her lap but she still kept her head high as she spoke to Angela. “I shouldn't have questioned your relationship with my daughter. The two of you are grown women capable of thinking for themselves and making your own choices. If Fareeha says that her relationship with you is genuine that that should be good enough for me and I'm sorry it wasn't today and it won't happen again.”

  
  


Once she was finished speaking she turned her head ever so slightly towards Jack and she cleared her throat, startling the American into jumping. “Right, my turn then. First impressions are the most important and I didn't make a very good one. You came here over here to properly meet Ana and me and I ended up dragging you into an argument over nukes and what not. You'd think I would have learned not to be such a dumbass at my age but I guess I still have a ways to go so... sorry for earlier.”

  
  


“Well I suppose that's a start.” said Angela as she fidgeted with her shirt's collar before dropping her hands to rest on her lap. “What I don't understand is why either of you had a problem with me in the first place. I met Ana at Fareeha's place for a bit, but I hadn't met you before today, Jack.”

  
  


Ana and Jack exchanged a brief glance and Jack shrugged at her. Ana rolled her eyes. “Oh fine, you oaf, I'll say it.” She turned back towards Angela. “I'm sure it won't come as a surprise that we've heard of you from all the TV shows and internet articles. There's a lot of things we could say, but it really boils down to one thing. Jack and I are soldiers. Yes we're old and no longer serving, but being a soldier is something that never leaves you, not completely.”

  
  


Angela started to speak up, but Ana shook her head and barreled over the doctor. “One of the things we've noticed about your nano-bots is who you've been giving them to and who you haven't. I don't know how many countries you're up to now, but you've only been giving them to civilians. You've consistently refused to give them to soldiers who are serving in the military, whether they're actively serving or in the reserves. _That's_ what really bothers us about you.”

  
  


The doctor's hands tightened on her knees and she had to fight to keep her voice even. “I have my reasons for that. If I start providing nano-bots to the military of one country then the others would demand them as well.That's not the main reason for my choice in the matter however. I became a doctor because I wanted to help people. I invented nano-bots because I felt I wasn't doing enough. That's what they're for, helping people live. Not helping people kill each other. I can understand why that bothers you, but let's just agree to disagree on the matter.” Angela paused to take a deep breath and slowly let it out. “As long as we're getting things off our chest I have something I'd like to ask you, Ana.”

  
  


“What is it?”

  
  


“You know what your daughter does for a living and what that means about me... you don't seem bothered by Fareeha's profession, but you're leery of me because I was a client of hers. I don't understand the dynamic the two of you have about this."

  
  


"Jack, will you be a dear and go get us some tea?" Ana waited he had pushed himself up onto his feet before looking at her daughter. "Would you like to add to this conversation or are you going to continue listening?"

  
  


"I think you and Angela need to hash this out between yourselves plus I have a pretty good idea of what you're going to say, mum."

  
  


"As you wish. Yes I know my daughter is a domme. She told me about it when she started working as one. I've always believed in trying not to judge people for their sexuality, but it wasn't exactly easy for me to process what Fareeha was telling me. It's one thing not to judge an acquaintance or a random person you see on the street, but it's quite another when it's your daughter. If I close my eyes I can still picture her as a little girl who wants me to kiss a scraped knee and then she grew up and doing... well you would know that better than me. Fareeha and I don't discuss the details of what she actually does and honestly I don't really want to know. Fareeha's always been good at separating her work from her personal life, but then I ran into you at Fareeha's place and now you're here. If Fareeha says you're her partner then I need to accept that and try to get over it making me uneasy. "

  
  


Silence fell and the three women sat there, each waiting for one of the others to speak first. Eventually Ana piped up. “I almost forgot that Jack didn't mention him boring you to death with basketball. He's always been a little obsessed with the sport but it's been particularly bad the last couple of weeks. There was some big tournament in the US recently and Jack's been moping around ever since Indiana lost. ”

  
  


“I have not been moping.” Jack protested indignantly as he came back into the room, porcelain cups and a brass tea kettle resting on a tray in his hands. “Sure, I'm disappointed Indiana lost, but that happens almost every year.” As he spoke Jack set the tray down on the table and he picked the kettle up and began pouring its contents into the four cups there. Minuscule vapors rose into the air from all four of them as he picked up a small spoon and scooped a spoonful of golden granules into each of the cups. Lastly he dropped a few green leaves into each before sitting down next to Ana on the couch. Angela started to get up from her chair so she could grab one of the cups but no one else was doing the same so she hesitated before sitting back down.

  
  


Ana cleared her throat and her head slowly turned to the side as she threw a meaningful look Jack's way and he quickly started speaking again. “I guess it has been on my mind a lot. I shouldn't have gone on about basketball so much. It's my interest, not yours. I think.”

  
  


“Jack.”

  
  


Ana's voice had a small, but fine, edge to it and Jack scooted away from her as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “All right, all right. I'm sorry I went on about basketball as much as I did. I guess I was talking about seasons where Indiana won the title because I wanted to forget the fact we lost to a buzzer beater in the title game this year.”

  
  


“Well, I'm not a sports fan,” Angela stated. “But I guess I can understand being upset that your favorite team lost. That doesn't have anything to do with me though. Is there anything else you'd like to say to me while we're getting everything out in the open?”

  
  


The Amari women exchanged a glance before Ana shook her head. “No, I think we've said quite a bit today and I have a feeling it'll take you time to unpack everything. I'd suggest we move on to a more pleasant discussion unless you have anything to add, Angela.”

  
  


“I do, as a matter of fact. I'd like to thank both of you for being willing to apologize to me and I know it couldn't have been easy and I understand if you resent me for some of the decisions I've made. Lastly I get that my relationship with your daughter isn't exactly a conventional one by any means, but I adore her a great deal so I'd like to try and keep things civil between us at the very least if we can't be friends.” Angela gave the tea another glance as she finished speaking, hoping to use it to ward off the dry feeling in the back of her throat.

  
  


“Go ahead, dear.” Ana said as she claimed one of the porcelain cups for herself. “Another minute to steep wouldn't hurt, but it'll be fine by now. Now I don't know if you feel like staying or not, but there are some board games in the closet over there if you're interested.”

  
  


Jack and Fareeha both tensed up as soon as they heard the words 'board games', but neither of them reacted fast enough before Angela's response was out of her mouth. “Sure. Why not?”

  
  


A decidedly Cheshire cat-like grin flashed across Ana's face for the briefest of moments before vanishing as quickly as it had come. She set her cup down and rose from the couch and made a beeline towards the closet she had mentioned. Jack and Fareeha exchanged a knowing glance and Angela suddenly had the impression one might get from seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, only to find it was an oncoming train.

 


	12. Chapter 12

After she had finished entering a destination into her car's computer Angela's head thumped against her headrest and she let out a weary sigh. “Next time I'm over here I'm making your mother play chess with me so I can get revenge. That was _brutal._ Is she always that cutthroat when she plays board games?”

  
  


The car pulled onto the street as it started on the route back to Fareeha's house once again. “My mum is pretty competitive.” Fareeha admitted. “If I had known she was going to pull out one of her games I would have warned. Jack and I learned to try and avoid playing with her whenever possible a long time ago. It could have been worse though. She's part of a group that meets once a week and they're all just as bad as her.” Fareeha said with a laugh and shake of her head.

  
  


“In that case I'm definitely not going to be joining them. Getting smashed that badly by just Ana was bad enough. I don't think an entire group of players like that would be any fun for me.” Angela fell silent for a few moments as the car continued to speed along. “How did today go? You know Ana and Jack better than me. I want to believe that I made a decent impression, but it really doesn't feel like I did...”

  
  


“It's not as bad as you think.” Fareeha reached over to take Angela's right hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly. “I mean it didn't go great, but it wasn't completely horrible if that's what you're thinking. Mum was always going to be weirded out by me bringing a 'client' home, but she'll get used to you being a part of our lives soon enough. As for the rest of it... I'd say you hashed things out pretty well. The most important thing is that you stood up for yourself and your beliefs. They'll respect that even if they don't agree with you on some issues. I think for now it's best to give them some space to think it over. Next time things will go better I promise.”

  
  


“Hopefully that won't be for a while. After the last week or so I really need to clear my head...” As she finished speaking Angela could feel herself becoming painfully aware of the woman sitting just a short distance away. She raised her right hand upwards before slipping it free from Fareeha's grasp then took a hold of the other woman's wrist and placed Fareeha's palm against the side of her breast. “And I think I might know how to do that.”

  
  


Fareeha left her hand where Angela had placed it, relishing the pleasant softness beneath her fingertips. “A session? Kinda short notice... but I think I can accommodate that. Anything in particular you want me to do to you?” asked Fareeha in a not quite breathless whisper.

  
  


“Mmm not exactly. I had a fair amount of time on my hands while I was in Washington so I got around to reading up on roles in BDSM and the entry about switches caught my eye.”

  
  


Fareeha blinked as Angela's words sank in, their implication being immediately obvious to her. In any given bondage session there were two roles, namely top and bottom. The person or persons filling the role of bottom were the ones giving up control and the top was the one who had it. A substantial portion of the BDSM community tended to fall squarely into one of those two categories but there was another substantial portion that could, and did, perform either role depending on what they felt like doing on any given day. Switches.

  
  


“You want to try topping me, Angela?”

  
  


Angela glanced down at her lap before looking back over at Fareeha. “I've had a lot of fun being the bottom in our sessions and I want to keep doing it. I don't know if I'll even like being a top, but I think it's something I should try at least once.”

  
  


“That's not a bad idea.” Fareeha said as she reached down with her free hand to the seat controls on her right side. A twist of a dial later and the massage units embedded in the chair began lightly vibrating against her back. “Even if you don't enjoy being a top it'll give you a better understanding of what it's like from my perspective. I haven't been a bottom in a very long time so this will be a good refresher of how it feels to be on the other side.” Her fingers gave a light squeeze before retreating from Angela's breast. “We still have a few minutes before getting back to my place so try to figure out what you actually want to do to me.”

  
  


Angela's cheeks reddened from more than just the touch and she hastily turned her head to look out the window at the other cars on the road. What did she want to do? That wasn't a question she hadn't asked herself yet. The times she had thought about this had all been focused on creating an argument for why Fareeha should agree to and then none of them had been needed. Now she only had minutes to try and figure it out. Angela closed her eyes, slowly inhaled then exhaled, and started walking her way backwards through the prior sessions she and Fareeha had done, the most accessible source of ideas available to her at the moment.

  
  


All too soon the car was pulling into the driveway of Fareeha's house and coming to a halt. The home's owner flashed a grin at Angela. “Can't wait to see what you came up with. I'll take care of Jonesy while you get things set up in my bedroom.”

  
  


They had barely gotten through the door and out of their shoes when Fareeha's cat was bounding towards them from somewhere deeper inside the house. Jonesy meowed once then flopped onto her side and curled her paws down as she exposed her fluff covered stomach. Fareeha crouched down, burying her fingers in the animal's fur as she rubbed its belly. “Hey there kitty, did you miss your mom? Come on, I'll get you something to eat.” Jonesy immediately shot back onto her feet and meowed repeatedly as she followed Fareeha into the kitchen while Angela headed towards Fareeha's room.

  
  


When Fareeha entered her room a couple of minutes later Angela was waiting for her. Several coils of red rope were laid out next to each other on the bed as well as a vibrator wand with a bulbous head. “Green. Hello, Miss Amari. It's about time you showed up for your physical.”

  
  


Fareeha came to a dead stop and she stared blankly at Angela for several seconds before starting to giggle. “Y-yellow. _That's_ what... you came up... with?” Fareeha forced out in-between bouts of giggling.

  
  


A rigid scowl crossed Angela's face and she snapped her fingers and imperiously pointed a spot on the ground in front of her. “You think this is a joke? You should take your health more seriously. Stand right there and take off your clothes.”

  
  


Fareeha paused for a moment before mentally shrugging and taking a long step so that she was on the spot indicated. She grabbed the hem of her sweater and pulled it up and off her head. Her pants were quick to follow and she put a hand on her hip while looking at Angela. “Underwear too?”

  
  


“All right of it, including your socks, then open your mouth.” Angela ordered in a stern tone and she drummed her fingers impatiently on her arm while waiting. A moment later and Fareeha had finished stripping down and opened her jaw up. Angela stepped closer and slid her index finger into the other woman's mouth. “Let's take a look at these teeth.”

  
  


Her finger began brushing against the tops of Fareeha's incisors and canines before moving on further back. When it started to rub the surfaces of Fareeha's molars Fareeha began to gag and she grabbed Angela's wrist and forcibly pulled Angela's finger from her mouth. She took a step backwards and bent over, putting her hands on her knees, whilst trying not to dry heave. Angela's eyes widened and she started to step forward but Fareeha held one finger up. After a moment she stood upright with a shudder. “Yellow. Okay, let's not do that again. Try something else. Green.”

  
  


“I... okay...” Angela moved forward past Fareeha then turned around. Her voice wavered as she spoke but there was a note of determination in it. She rested her chin on Fareeha's shoulder and her arms circled themselves around Fareeha's stomach. “One of the most important checks a woman should have done when visiting their doctor is a breast exam. Lucky for you I'm a doctor so let's see if I can find any lumps.”

  
  


Fareeha rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together to keep from giggling again. However she remained still as Angela's hands pressed themselves flat against her stomach before beginning to move. Angela's fingers remained still, stiffly held together, as she used her palms to push into Fareeha's torso. They methodically shifted higher until they were grazing the underside of her breasts. Fareeha let out a quiet murmur and her eyes slowly began to close as Angela's hands continued roaming upwards, their pressure never increasing or decreasing. “I thought you were a surgeon. Have you done this before?”

  
  


“Shut up, you.”

  
  


Angela's hands abruptly stopped what they were doing and, in a single swift motion, pinched both of Fareeha's nipples between her thumb and index finger. Fareeha yelped and she shoved Angela's hands to the side before lurching away from the doctor. “Shit! Yellow! Ow, ow, ow, ow.”

  
  


The doctor's face turned red and she grabbed her bicep as she looked down at the ground while Fareeha gingerly rubbed at her chest. “Are you all right? I didn't mean to actually hurt you... I'm really screwing this up aren't I?”

  
  


Fareeha let out a short sigh and she stepped towards Angela, taking the blonde woman in her arms. Angela quickly dropped her forehead onto Fareeha's shoulder. “Kinda, yeah. It's all right though. Being a top isn't easy and I'd be moresurprised if you _hadn't_ made mistakes, Angela.”

  
  


“There were more than those two?”

  
  


“There was. You said green at the beginning but you forget to say it the first time I paused the session. Instead you stayed in character and kept going even though I had said yellow. The biggest error was that we didn't have a negotiation. I didn't get the chance to explain my limits or say what I was willing to do. Last thing is that... well you roleplaying as a doctor was really corny and kinda off-putting because you actually _are_ a doctor.”

  
  


“I suppose.” Angela mumbled into Fareeha's shoulder. “I just couldn't think of anything so I guess I fell back on what I know. I don't think I like being a top. Being the bottom is a lot more fun for me. You're not upset about how this went are you?”

  
  


Fareeha quickly shook her head and gave Angela a reassuring squeeze. “No, not at all. I mean it didn't go great, but there's nothing wrong with that. I'm actually glad you wanted to try your hand at being a top. It shows that you're taking a greater interest in our sessions. You're actively researching BDSM and seeing what you'd like to try instead of just letting me come up with things to do to you.” She pressed her lips to the crown of Angela's head before placing her fingers under her chin and tilting her face up. “Now then, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I said yellow so the session isn't over yet. I want you to tie me to the bed and use that vibrator on me.”

  
  


The doctor's eyes widened and her mouth formed a small o shape as Fareeha walked backwards a few paces. When she reached the end of her bed Fareeha lowered herself to sit on her rear with her legs out in front of her. She stretched her hands out to either side, pressing them against the metal rods that made up the footboard. Lastly she spread her knees apart so that her parts in the very middle between them were plain to see. Angela started to move forward but Fareeha pointed at one of the boxes. “I think the safety scissors are in there. Get them out then I'll talk you through the hitch to tie my wrists.”

  
  


Once Angela had retrieved the ropes and scissors Fareeha began to walk her through each step of the hitch, a task she completed without any difficulty and surprisingly quickly. Fareeha eyed the knots suspiciously and tugged with both hands to test them. There was some slack in the rope running between her wrist and footboard but the sections coiled around each of those were sufficiently tight. She had some room to pull, but not enough that she could undo the knots on her own. “If I didn't know better I'd say you've done this before. These are good single column ties.”

  
  


“This isn't a knot I've done before, but surgeons tie their share of knots so I sorta know what I'm doing.” Angela said, looking more than a little gratified that she had done something correctly here. She rose up to her feet and leaned forward over the bed as she grabbed the vibrator and turned back to Fareeha. “Are you ready?”

  
  


“Green.”

  
  


Angela set the toy to its lowest setting and hit the power button before setting it against Fareeha's groin. The olive skinned woman's hips twitched as the vibrations hit her. “Ohhh... I was starting to forget what this thing felt like.” Fareeha groaned. Angela gave a small smile and turned the vibrator up a level and adjusted the device so it was better positioned against Fareeha's clit. As the vibrations grew stronger Fareeha continued to moan and her head started rotating from one side to the other as her fingers clenched onto the rope. “Ahhh... ahhh...haaah... more... I need more!”

  
  
  
  


All too happy to oblige, Angela turned the vibrator up another notch and pressed it even harder against Fareeha than before. Almost immediately Fareeha began panting and her knuckles started to whiten as she gripped the rope even harder. She shook her head to clear a few stray locks of hair off of her face and her dark eyes made their way to the doctor's face. “Just a... aaaaah... little longer... oh shit!”

  
  


Fareeha's hips rose a few centimeters up off the ground and her arms strained against the ropes for a moment before she sank back down to the carpet. Her head hung down for several seconds before she looked up at Angela. “Okay... after you untie me I need you to go the kitchen and get me some chocolate. They're in the cabinet next to the fridge. Then you come back and cuddle me.”

  
  


When Angela came back Jonesy was following her, toy banana in the cat's mouth and Fareeha was just exiting the bathroom. Fareeha climbed onto the bed then lay down on her side. Angela handed the chocolate bars to Fareeha before lying next to her. Not content to be left out Jonesy vaulted up onto the bed before curling into a ball down by their feet, one paw just barely touching Fareeha's ankle. “So how did the end feel for you there, Angela? Knowing that I'm putting myself into your hands, trusting in you. Letting you tie me up so that I'm in your control. Watching the expressions on my face, hearing me moan, having me beg and being able to give or deny pleasure as you see fit. You can forget the rest of that session. You wanted to try being a top and I think you got a real taste of it at the end so... how did it feel?”

  
  


As she waited for a response Fareeha ripped open one of the chocolate bars and bit one corner off. “It... I think I have a better idea about what people get out of being a top now.” She wriggled closer to Fareeha and put her arms around the other woman's stomach, enjoying the warmth radiating from her. “But it's not for me. I'm your bottom and you're my top from now on.”

  
  


Fareeha turned her head to look over her shoulder at Angela and her chocolate stained lips parted as she smiled. “I adore you.”

  
  


“I adore you too.”

 


	13. Chapter 13

When Fareeha opened her eyes a pair of blue orbs were staring very intently at her, but they didn't belong to the woman who had slept beside her last night. Instead they belonged to the furry lump of a feline sitting atop her chest. The moment her eyes opened Jonesy meowed and put one of her paws on Fareeha's face.

  
  


“Okay, okay. I'm awake, I'm awake.” Fareeha murmured. “Let me get dressed then I'll get you breakfast.”

  
  


Jonesy meowed a second time but she climbed down off of Fareeha before hopping off the bed and trotted to the door, her tail held up in the air. Fareeha grabbed the first top, a plain black tee shirt, she saw in her closet and a pair of blue jeans to put on. She shuffled down the hallway while rubbing her eyes as she headed to the pantry. Fareeha grabbed a metal can of cat food off the shelf and pulled the lid off before unceremoniously dumping the wet food into a red plastic dish sitting on the floor. Jonesy scurried forward and began to scarf down her breakfast. As Fareeha straightened up she could just barely hear an unfamiliar voice coming from beyond the kitchen. She gave her cat a glance before turning and heading toward the voice's source. Angela was standing in the living room, her hands held close to her chest in distress, as she stared at the television and the female news anchor on it.

  
  


A box appeared on the right side of the screen, continually changing what was displayed on it as the anchor continued to speak. “... allegations against Senator Brown and Senator Miller has caused an uproar not only in Washington but all across the nation. Students at dozens of colleges began protesting yesterday evening and their numbers have only grown overnight. The protests have been mostly peaceful so far, but protesters in Berkeley started several fires and a number of businesses have been broken into. Police forces were able to disperse the crowds allowing firefighters to prevent the fires from spreading. There have also been further riots in Oakland, Portland, and New York City. Riot police managed to contain the situation and there have been multiple arrests so far, likely numbering in the hundreds. There have also been numerous injuries, but no fatalities have been reported so far. The most significant protest, however, has been the one in Washington DC today. The event had already been planned but the outcome has been nothing short of stunning. Estimates of the march's size by experts had been numbering around one to two hundred thousand but those numbers have fallen far short. Estimates of the march's actual size are still being gathered but the unofficial consensus thus far places the total number of attendees at over a million. That would make this the largest protest in the US in the last thirty years as well as making it one of the largest in US history. There have also been demonstrations outside multiple US embassies across the globe.”

  
  


“Senator Brown and Senator Miller have made no public comment on the accusations against them but House Minority leaders have stated they intend to fully investigate the matter. Yesterday Angela Ziegler released a short statem-.”

  
  


The television fell silent as the screen went black and Fareeha could see her reflection next to Angela's on it. “Are you doing all right, Angela?” She gently asked.

  
  


“No... not really. People are getting hurt or getting arrested over there because they're angry for the same reason I'm angry. I want the Americans to have access to nano-biotics but their government is preventing that from happening.”

  
  


“Is there anything can I do to help? Not with _that_ , though, I don't think there's anything I can do to help out there.” Fareeha waved at the television. “With you. I can make you breakfast or order something to eat if you feel like it.”

  
  


Angela just shook her head and let out an exasperated breath before turning to face Fareeha. “I already ate, but thanks for the offer. I'm not mad at you just so you know. I knew the Americans might turn me down and I made plans for that, but this is still so frustrating. All I can do right now is sit and wait until my foundation puts the plans I made into motion. If you really want to help then just put up with me while I'm dealing with crazy governments.” Angela said with a smile meant to be reassuring.

  
  


Fareeha gave an uneasy smile in return and she moved to sit down on the couch. “Is what they're saying on the news true? The US wanted to use your nano-bots to make weapons?”

  
  


“I signed an NDA so I can't legally answer that...” Angela replied as she sat down next to Fareeha. “But _if_ the rumors are true, and I'm not saying they are, then I wouldn't be willing to continue negotiating with them. I'd probably just leave and go home.” Angela gave Fareeha a meaningful look as she finished speaking.

  
  


“So what are you doing about it, Angela?”

  
  


“If I can't go to the Americans then the Americans will have to come to me. Medical tourism has been an industry for a long time and there's plenty of countries who would be happy for Americans to pay their hospitals a visit so long as they bring their wallets.” Angela shook her head and scooted towards Fareeha, dropping her head onto the other woman's shoulder as she began to cuddle her. “I don't want to keep thinking about this though. I want to talk about you. What are your plans, Fareeha?”

  
  


“Well... I was thinking about going back to work tomorrow.”

  
  


Angela shot upright and she looked down at her knees while hugging her arms to her sides. “Oh... that's great.”

  
  


Fareeha looked at Angela for a moment, her heart suddenly heavy, and she pushed herself closer to the doctor and put an arm around her shoulders. “I know you're not a fan of the idea, but we've talked about this before. I've already set some limitations on the stuff I'll do to make you more comfortable with it and I'm going to stick to them.”

  
  


“I know and I believe what you're saying. It just feels weird having to share you with complete strangers. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite, but it's just how I feel.”

  
  


“But you're not sharing me with them. Yes, I top for people at work, but it's purely a financial arrangement, not emotional. At the end of the day you're my partner. Topping for you is completely different than topping for them and that's not going to change. I don't adore them, I adore you.”

  
  


Angela smiled for a moment and she started to lean back against Fareeha's shoulder. “I think your mother has the right idea in not talking about your job. I'm not going to forget what you do, but if I don't think about it as much then maybe I won't be so possessive. Let's talk about something else.”

As if on cue, Jonesy trotted into the room, straight up to the couch and jumped upwards onto it. She climbed over Angela's legs before sitting down between the two women and resting her chin on Fareeha's thigh. Angela reached down to scratch behind the cat's ears. “Tell me about Jonesy. How old is she and where did you get her?”

  
  


“The vet thinks she's about six years old, but he's not sure about that. Her teeth were pretty clean when I got her so it's hard to really say, but I've had her for two years though. I found her at a shelter, but it's more accurate to say she found me. When I got there I was thinking of getting a kitten, but Jonesy had other ideas. One of the volunteers was showing me around the place and they have these little gardens that the cats can hang out in. Jonesy was outside in her garden when she saw me. Right away she ran up to the fence and climbed up it before sticking a paw through to try and touch me. At that point I couldn't say no and she's been my chubby-butt ever since.” Fareeha said with a small smile as she absentmindedly petted the cat.

  
  


“Awwww, that's so sweet!” Angela cooed as she continued scratching the cat's head. “I didn't know cats could pick people like that.”

  
  


“A lot of cats have a favorite person, but cats acting like Jonesy did is a lot less common.”

  
  


As Fareeha finished speaking Angela's phone began to buzz in her pocket and she pulled it out. A text message from Cedric was on the screen.

  
  


_C: Sorry for the short notice but I just received a call from John Schiff. He's asking to set up a video call with you as soon as possible. Would you be interested in speaking with him or should I turn him down? He seemed somewhat anxious but I'm uncertain as to why._

  
  


Angela frowned at her phone before leaning away from Fareeha. “I'm sorry but-”

  
  


“Work getting in the way again?” Fareeha asked with a small knowing grin.

  
  


“Yes.” Angela groaned as she stood up. “I really want to stay, but I don't know how long this is going to take.”

  
  


Fareeha gently moved the cat's chin off her thigh before standing up as well. She wrapped her arms around the doctor while planting a quick kiss on her cheek. “If you have to go, you have to go. I get it and I'll be waiting for you to come back.”

  
  


Angela rested her fingers on Fareeha's cheek for a moment as she gazed into those dark eyes before reluctantly stepping away. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

  
  


An hour later Angela was seated behind a heavy dark russet desk made of maple wood back in the office room at her house. Her face had been washed and lightly coated in just enough makeup so as to look at least somewhat professional. She was wearing a white dress shirt with long sleeves but all she had on beneath the legs was a pair of boyshorts. Angela reached up to adjust the camera located on top of her computer monitor while looking at her picture on the screen. Once she had made sure that her lower half couldn't be seen Angela tapped on the monitor.

  
  


John Schiff appeared on the screen, beard and all, in front of her. The man's shirt had more than its share of wrinkles and his eyes looked tired. “Hello, Doctor Ziegler. Thanks for taking my call on such short notice.”

  
  


Angela glanced down at the clock in the bottom right of her monitor before mentally subtracting several hours. “It's not a problem, but couldn't this have waited until later? It's two in the morning over there, isn't it? You should be in bed.”

  
  


John's hand made a brief appearance as he checked the back of his wrist before shrugging. “I guess it is. I've gotten used to late evenings since I started working in Washington. As for waiting, I suppose I could have, but I didn't want to wait any longer than necessary to speak to you.”

  
  


Angela suppressed the urge to frown and she leaned back in her chair. “May I ask what you want to talk about? If there were any questions about paying your bill then Cedric should have taken care of that.”

  
  


“No, that's not it, Doctor Ziegler. If there was a dispute about billing then my accountant would be handling it. I take it you've seen the news about the negotiations falling apart?”

  
  


“Yes. I'm actually surprised the media found out. The whole thing was done behind closed doors yet people knew before I had even gotten back to Switzerland.”

  
  


“I'm not.” John stated with a wry smile as he rubbed at his chin. “I'm the one who leaked it to the press.”

  
  


“What?” Angela blinked several times, taken aback at how blunt John's admission had been. “But you signed the NDA. I don't know much about US law, but I'm _pretty_ sure they can sue you for that if they found out.”

  
  


John shrugged, not looking at all worried. “Oh, the Senators absolutely would take me to court. They'd win and I'd have to pay a fine, probably a large one. It doesn't matter though because I've already won the real battle. Everyone wants nano-bots and the fact that Brown and Miller wanted to weaponize them is a death sentence, so to speak. They don't have any chance of getting re-elected once their term ends and nobody is going to want to associate themselves with those two while they're still in office.”

  
  


“I don't understand. Why are you telling me this?”

  
  


“Because I wanted to make sure you're ready to steer clear of what's going to happen next. Right now the senators are trying to find out where the leak came from. They'll start by going through their own offices, but when they don't find it there they'll start looking at us. More specifically you. If they could get someone to claim you were the source of the leak then they'd have grounds to file lawsuits against you. I've written a confession up and I'm going to send it to a reporter after this conversation is over. You may catch a bit of heat because I was representing you, but it won't take very long before the media moves on.”

  
  


“Why are you throwing yourself under the bus? You might not care about the money, but this will tarnish your professional reputation.” Angela pointed out.

  
  


“Sure, I might lose some clients and miss out on a few business deals, but that's not important right now. Getting nano-bots approved for use in the US is more important than I am. You might be planning on setting up shop in Canada or Mexico, but there's plenty of Americans who won't be able to afford that. If hurting my reputation is what it takes to knock some barriers out of the way then that's what I'll do.”

  
  


Angela drummed her fingers on the desk and rubbed her chin for a few seconds. “So when you say steer clear... just how clear are we talking?”

  
  


“Completely, we don't want to give the media any reason to be talking about you. No press releases or public statements. If, or rather when, you're asked about it, decline to comment. I'll be taking full responsibility for this and I'll be distancing myself you as much as possible.”

  
  


“I'll do that. Is there anything else, Mister Schiff?”

  
  


“There is actually. It’s a morbid question, but I haven’t been to stop thinking about it since the

last meeting we had. In the the incredibly, and let me stress _incredibly,_ unlikely scenario that nano-biotics are weaponized, what form might they take?”

  
  


Angela stared at her monitor and the man on it. For a fleeting moment she found herself exceedingly glad he was on the other side of an ocean and thus she couldn’t could strangle him. “Well since we’re speaking hypothetically there’s any number of ways nanobots could harm a person, but you’re looking for a specific example...” Her voice trailed off for a second as she considered which one to bring up. “I suppose it’s possible to create an aerosol based method of distribution. Then the nanobots would be programmed to kill T cells and deployed over a large city.”

  
  


John frowned for a moment and he rubbed at his chin. “Killing T cells? Isn’t that what HIV does?” She nodded slowly as he looked at her for confirmation and the good natured look on his face vanished as the fact sunk in. “I see... I was making some coffee since it’s late over here, but now I’m quite sure I won’t need it to stay awake. Thank you for taking my call and the horrifying imagery. If you'll excuse me, Doctor Ziegler, I have a reporter to go speak to. Have a good day.”

  
  


“Good night, Mister Schiff.”

  
  


The picture of Schiff on her monitor winked out and Angela sat there for a long moment in contemplation. His actions and advice made sense so she was going to follow them. This endeavor was far from over as well, but her part in it had ended. For the moment anyways.

 


	14. Chapter 14

Fareeha grabbed hold of a pale white wrist and shoved it into a half circle carved out of a wood plank that was padded with rubber. A second later she dragged another wrist into an identical slot on the opposite side of an even larger half circle in the middle. Lastly Fareeha seized a fistful of blonde hair and pushed forward until the largest circle had a neck in it. With both hands she lifted a second plank, aligned it with the bottom part and pushed it down until the two halves were once again in contact. Fareeha picked a padlock up from the floor and fed its shackle through a pair of rings located on the side of the pillory.

  
  


“It's been a while since you've seen me and it seems you've forgotten the lessons I taught you. Well now you're stuck so I think it's a good time to remind you of your place.”

  
  


She sauntered over to the wall and grabbed a slender black rod with a rectangular loop of leather attached to one end. Fareeha spun the crop in her hand so that its edges were vertical and she placed one of them against the neck in front of her. Bit by bit she slowly traced a path along the spine, getting ever lower before raising it into the air and hesitating.

  
  


As Fareeha stood there, crop held in the air, her eyes began to wander the room around her. This room had been her 'office', so to speak, for the last several years. During that period she had participated in hundreds, maybe thousands, of sessions. Fareeha had lost track long ago. The plain white walls, the furniture scattered throughout the room, the drawers containing every kind of toy she could conceivably need for her job. All of them were things she had become intimately familiar with and yet now that she was looking at them, it all seemed completely alien. As if she had never been here before. The crop wavered then sank lower and lower until it was pointed at the ground. “Red.”

  
  


The man in the pillory fidgeted and turned his head as much as he was able to do. “Huh?”

  
  


Fareeha shook her head and set the crop aside before pulling a key from her pocket and undoing the padlock and removing the top half of the pillory. “Sorry, Noah. I... I can't do this.” She said while sitting down and dropping her head back against the wall.

  
  


Noah removed his head and hands from the device before standing and heading over to where had left his clothes. As he pulled on his underwear he turned towards her. “Did I do something wrong without realizing it?”

  
  


“No, no, nothing like that, Noah. If you'll pardon the cliché, it's not you, it's me. It's... the thing is that I've met someone and it's gotten pretty serious between us.”

  
  


“Really? That's great!” Noah said, shirt over his head as he tried to push an arm through one of its sleeves. After his arms and head had emerged from within the shirt Noah cast a look around the room they were in along with of all its contents. “Does this person know where you are and what you're doing right now?” He asked, a note of trepidation present in his voice.

  
  


“Yes to both. Don't worry, you're not homewrecking or anything. We discussed me coming back to work here and they're okay with it. I thought I was too, but now I'm not so sure.”

  
  


“That sounds like you're thinking of quitting.” Noah said as he picked his pants up the ground.

  
  


“I guess I am.” Fareeha said with a rueful twist to her lips. “The thought's been on my mind for a while, but the money's good and I've never really had a reason to go through with quitting this job.”

  
  


“Well, whether you keep working here or not is your choice. That said, if you're really done, then let me say I'm going to miss you, Fareeha.”

  
  


Fareeha chuckled as she looked at up her client. “Oh? There are other dominatrixes in Geneva. If you want a recommendation then I'm happy to provide one. I'm sure you'll forget about in me no time.”

  
  


To Fareeha's surprise, Noah almost looked hurt at her comment. “Now that's not true. I know you do this for the money, but you had more of an impact on me than you realize. When I came here I was... ashamed of what I was doing. Ashamed of being a man who was submissive. You helped me through the guilt and taught me that I wasn't abnormal.”

  
  


She started to open her mouth to ask whether or not that had been the case before stopping herself. Fareeha paused as she tried to think back to when Noah had first visited her. It had been years ago so her memories of those early sessions were more than a little fuzzy, but if Noah said that's how he had felt then she wasn't going to argue with him. “I remember that now. It has been a while hasn't it? Anyways, since I canceled the session I'll refund your money before I leave.”

  
  


“No, there's no need for that. If you are quitting then consider this a going away present.” By now Noah had finished dressing. “Thanks for... well all of this.” He broadly gestured at the room before turning and heading out the door into the front room.

  
  


Fareeha picked the crop up and carried it over to the drawer where the other impact toys were kept and put it away. She gazed at the door for a minute, waiting long enough to be sure Noah was gone, before exiting the play room herself. Her phone was where she had left it and it didn't take long for her to type out a message.

  
  


_F: Can you come by my place tonight?_

  
  


_A: Sure, what time?_

  
  


_F: Six?_

  
  


_A: Sure, see you then._

  
  


Fareeha let out a deep breath as she grabbed her keys and headed for the exit. There was plenty of time until Angela would be at her house, but she had a sneaking suspicion she would need all of it to figure out what to say.

  
  


Jonesy was there at the front door almost the second Angela came through it. She meowed once then began to rub herself against Angela's ankles while purring loudly. Angela bent over as she reached for her shoelaces and the cat started bumping her head into the doctor's fingers. She giggled and scratched the cat's ears for a moment. “Are you going to let me take my shoes off, Jonesy?”

  
  


“C'mere kitty.” Fareeha said as she walked into the living room. “Do you want a treat?” The cat's head swiveled towards Fareeha and her ears quivered. Fareeha repeated her question and Jonesy immediately trotted over and meowed at her.

  
  


After Angela had gotten her shoes off she followed the pair into the kitchen to find Fareeha holding something in her fingers for the cat. Jonesy took it and wandered off to a corner, her tail held straight up in the air. “So, how are you, Fareeha?”

  
  


“I quit my job.”

  
  


“What!?” It was a good thing Angela wasn't holding anything in her hands because it would have fallen to the floor.

  
  


“Maybe we should sit down for this, Angela.”

  
  


Once they were both seated on the couch in the living Fareeha inhaled through her nose before exhaling through her mouth. “I went back to work today like I said I was going to. I only had one client since it was such short notice and all. It was one of my regulars though, generally pretty easy to work with and always tips well. The negotiations went fine and we didn't have any issues with the new limitations I had. Once we got to the actual play portion of the session... well I had the crop in my hand and all, but I couldn't go through with it. As I was standing there, looking at them, I realized something. I couldn't go through with the session because the wrong person was in the pillory in front of me. The only person I want to top for is you.”

  
  


Angela covered her mouth with one hand and pressed her lips together, but a tiny snort still came out of them. “Are you _laughing_ at me?” Fareeha exclaimed. “I'm being serious over here!”

  
  


“I know you are and I'm not laughing at you.” Angela quickly explained, hoping to soothe her partner's ruffled feathers. “What you said at the end is just so cheesy I couldn't help myself. 'The only person I want to top for is you.' It's cheesy, but it's also super sweet. I have to ask a question, however. What does this mean for us?”

  
  


“It means I'm committing to you, Angela.” Fareeha put a hand on the couch and she rose off it before making her way towards Angela. She placed a hand on the couch on either side of the doctor's head and pulled herself forward so that she was straddling the doctor's lap. “I'm still a dominatrix, but now I don't have any clients. Just a partner who I... who I...” Fareeha quietly grumbled to herself before screwing her courage up and spitting the word out. “love.”

  
  


Angela froze.”Did you just say the L word?” A red-faced Fareeha looked down and away and muttered something under her breath. Angela reached up, putting her hand on Fareeha's cheek and turned it back towards her. “I love you too.” She whispered.

  
  


As Angela looked up at Fareeha she could feel herself becoming increasingly aware of the other woman. The dark eyes nervously staring back at her, the smell of cinnamon and myrrh, breasts in front of her face, Fareeha's weight pushing down on Angela's lap and their pelvises only kept from touching each by a few thin layers of fabric. Angela wasn't sure who moved first, but their lips were quickly locked together and her hands were on her lovers back. After a moment Fareeha pulled away. “I want to make love to you, Angela. But...”

  
  


“Yes?” Angela breathed softly, afraid to ruin the moment.

  
  


Fareeha hesitated, looking away for a second, before returning her gaze to Angela. “Give me some rope or a hairbrush and I'm in my element. I've learned a lot of things over the years, but they all involve toys of some sort. Without any toys I don't really know what I'm doing in bed.”

  
  


“Well, I'll just have to show you what to do then won't I?” Angela murmured as she began to pull the back of Fareeha's upwards. Fareeha raised her arms up and the shirt came up over her head and she tossed it aside. Angela lowered her hands back down to the couch. “Do you want to do it here or in your bedroom?”

  
  


“We should do it on my bed just in case we make a mess.” Fareeha started to disentangle herself from the doctor, but Angela grabbed a hold of her hips and pulled her back down. The doctor's hands snaked towards the zipper on Fareeha's pants and undid it then grabbed the garment and began to pull on it. Fareeha turned to the side and lowered her back to the couch before raising her legs in the air. Angela eagerly finished taking the pants off before grabbing Fareeha's socks and sliding them off as well. Fareeha looked down at her sheer black bra trimmed with lace and panties that were tied together on her hips for a moment before looking up at Angela with a playful smile on her lips. “If you want to get these off then you have to catch me.”

  
  


Before Angela could react Fareeha was on her feet and scurrying towards the hallway while laughing. Angela blinked once then she was up on her feet as well and scrambling after the other woman. “Get back here!”

  
  


By the time made it into the bedroom Fareeha was sitting on the edge of the bed, her hands behind her back as she unhooked her bra. She took hold of the straps and pulled them forward and dropped the garment on the floor. “You can touch me wherever you want, Angela. There's no part of me that's off-limits to you.”

  
  


Angela took a single step forward as she began taking off her shirt. The next step saw her undoing her skirt and letting it fall away from her. The one after that saw her bra fall away and the final step up to stand in front of Fareeha was accompanied by her panties so that she was only left in her socks. Angela sat down on the bed and scooted towards the pillows at its head before wiggling her feet at Fareeha. “Take these off and we'll get started.”

  
  


“Where do you want me?” Fareeha asked as she threw the socks towards the trail of Angela's clothing.

  
  


“Lie down on your front.” Angela said while patting the middle of the bed. Once Fareeha was prone Angela placed both hands on the other woman's lower back and she slid them upwards. When she reached Fareeha's shoulders Angela kneaded at the sides of her neck before running her hands all the way down to one of Fareeha's ankles. Fareeha murmured as Angela began a second pass. It was almost identical to the first, but ended on the opposite leg. As the passes continued Angela's hands gradually drifted towards the outsides on Fareeha's back while slipping ever lower towards the insides of Fareeha's legs. After a few minutes Angela's hands stopped on Fareeha's knees and she pushed them apart. Her right hand reached towards the last remaining article Fareeha was wearing and brushed her fingertip against the fabric from top to bottom then bottom to top. A tremble ran through Fareeha and she let out a gentle whine.

  
  


Angela licked at her lips, encouraged by the side and she continued to stroke up then down in an even cadence, content to take her time. Further whines came out of Fareeha, each a little louder than the one before. Eventually Fareeha turned her head to the side and raised her rear end into the air. Fareeha grabbed one of the thick pillows and cradled it against her chest to brace herself. “I'm ready for what's next, but I don't know how many fingers I can take so go slow, please.” She said, voice thick with anticipation.

  
  


“I'll only do one finger then.” Angela said before planting a light kiss to one of the cheeks swaying in front of her. She positioned herself behind her lover, off to one side, and undid one of the knots and tugged the fabric away. Angela curled all of her fingers, save one, her middle finger. She eased it against Fareeha's slick folds then gradually pushed it in to the first knuckle. Fareeha shuddered, but she didn't move. Angela pressed in deeper to her second digit before slowly pulling it out and repeating her action. “Is that all right?” Angela asked.

  
  


“It's wonderful. Keep going.”

  
  


Angela reinserted then withdrew her finger at the same pace as before, but the next time was slightly faster, as was the one after that. Bit by bit she began to speed up until she was steadily thrusting in and out and soft moans were filling the air. Fareeha squeezed the pillow even tighter as she closed her eyes, letting everything, but the doctor's touches drift away. This wasn't the first time the two of them had been in this position nor was it the first time she had let Angela penetrate her. However last time she had been manipulating the situation to make it happen, a way of staying in control. This time there wasn't anything of the sort happening. For the first time in their relationship the two of them were equals in bed, partners.

  
  


As Angela's finger continued to move Fareeha could feel herself growing warmer. Each stroke lending itself to the knot of heat at her center. It was steadily growing larger and expanding throughout the rest of her until all she could feel was warmth brought on by the woman she had just said she loved. Fareeha began to shudder and, all at once, the heat intensified and it seemed she was going to burn away right there as she writhed and cried out wordlessly.

  
  


When it had passed and Fareeha's body began to cool her eyes opened to see Angela lying beside her. A blissful smile spread across Fareeha's lips. “Hey, you.” She murmured.

  
  


“Hey, you. How was that?” Angela asked as she returned the smile.

  
  


“That was wonderful. Your fingers are as amazing as the rest of you. Do you want me to try and do that for you now?”

  
  


To Fareeha's surprise Angela shook her head. “Not at the moment. I'd love to get off right now, but if you're unsure what to do then I'd rather wait until you're more confident. I know just the video on oral sex for you to watch and when you're ready I'll happily sit on your face.”

  
  


“O-okay. Well I need to go pee. I'll be right back.”

  
  


When Fareeha came back into the bedroom she found Angela had company on the bed. Jonesy had jumped onto the bed and was currently sprawling across Angela's neck and face.

  
  


“Help.” Angela's voice was muffled, as if afraid of opening her mouth too much while the cat was covering it.

  
  


Fareeha managed to keep herself from laughing, but she couldn't stop a grin from appearing on her face at the sight. “Jonesy, is that how you cuddle with your new mom? You're a silly kitty.” Jonesy's ears swiveled and she turned her head to look at Fareeha before meowing once. Fareeha lay down on the bed next to Angela and she lifted the cat off of Angela and set it down between the two of them. Jonesy wriggled around until she was on her side and touching Fareeha with a single paw.

  
  


“I'm her new mom? That's news to me.” Angela said with a raised eyebrow as she looked down at the cat.

  
  


“Well, you don't have to be if you don't want to. She's part of the package though so being with me means you have to deal with this chubby-butt every now and then.” Fareeha stated affectionately as she ruffled the cat's fur.

  
  


“That's a price I'm willing to pay. Jonesy is definitely silly, but I don't _really_ mind. You're the one getting the short end of the stick if anything. Having to put up with me while I'm going crazy dealing with politics is way worse than your cat having no sense of personal space.”

  
  


“How did your meeting yesterday go?”

  
  


Angela folded her hands and rested them on her chest as she stared up at the ceiling. “It went all right. Spencer told me that he was the source of the leak and that he did it to attack the Senators I met with. There's still a lot to be done when it comes to the Americans, but my part is done for now anyways.”

  
  


“Well that's good to hear. Means the insanity is over, doesn't it?”

  
  


Angela slowly shook her head. “No. The worst is yet to come. There were some hurdles about legalese when I was dealing with the European Union, but those only took a couple of weeks for the lawyers to clear it up. It was pretty painless overall so I think I needed a wake-up call. This thing with the US was stressful, but it's just a roadbump compared to what's ahead. South America, parts of Asia, Africa. Those are all going to be much harder than what I just went through. Corruption, cartels, dictators, people who are superstitious or don't trust modern medicine, warlords. It has to be done, but I'm not looking forward to it.”

  
  


“Well, you don't have to do any of that right now do you?” Fareeha inquired as she brushed her fingers against Angela's cheeks.

  
  


“No... why?”

  
  


“Well, I just quit my job so I have some free time on my hands and you don't have anything going on for a while I'm guessing. You might have forgotten, but you paid me to live in your house and be your mistress for a whole month and we only managed to get through two weeks. How about we pack up our things, head back and finish the remainder. After that, we'll face whatever comes next together.”

  
  


Angela's cheeks flushed scarlet and she swallowed once as she considered the suggestion. What Fareeha had said was true. Their original arrangement had been for Fareeha to stay in Angela's house for a month. However that deal had been made between a professional and her client, which the two of them no longer were. It hadn't even been a month since their arrangement had begun, but their relationship had rapidly grown to the point where Angela wasn't sure what to call it. Girlfriends was the best she could come up with, but that term felt like it came up short. What she was sure about was that they didn't have to restrict themselves to just two weeks. The only restraints on how long they spent at her vacation house were ones they put on themselves and Angela had a sneaking suspicion she'd never get tired of the woman lying in bed with her and vice versa. “It's a deal, mistress.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is where Unification ends as well as this pharmercy series of mine. If you've made it this far, through the whole series even, thanks for reading/sticking with me and I hope you enjoyed it.


End file.
